Rise Of The Abyss
by CocoNini
Summary: When a mysterious religious cult called the Abyss begin causing trouble to the clans Blackbird leaves her clan for safety. But the Abyss steal her kits and hold them captive, forcing her to run back to her clan to get help. They refuse and call her a traitor so she sets off to rescue them alone. Can she save her kits and more importantly, the clans? First Fanfiction, please read!
1. Prologue

**Allegiances**

㈌8= deceased

**Thunderclan:**

Leader (in charge): Barkstar- A brown and black tabby tom with amber eyes

Deputy (assigns patrol, second in command): Swiftshadow- Pure black tom with green eyes

Medicine Cat (takes care of the clan): Meadowleaf- White with light brown and black patches she-cat with yellow eyes

Warriors (hunt and fight for the clan):

Rushpelt- Gray tabby tom with green eyes / apprentice: Lightningpaw

Lionclaw- Brown tabby tom with yellow eyes

Sandfur- Ginger tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

Redspring- Reddish orange tom with green eyes ㈌8

Runningwater- Silver tom with blue eyes / apprentice: Maplepaw

Crystalgaze- White she-cat with blue eyes

Dovesplash- Pale orange she-cat with green eyes / apprentice: Cloverpaw

Wolfwind- Silver she-cat with ice blue eyes

Timberblaze- Ginger tabby with amber eyes

Apprentices (warriors in training):

Lightningpaw- Ginger tom with green eyes

Cloverpaw- White tom with blue eyes

Maplepaw- Brown she-cat with amber eyes

Queens (Pregnant or has kits):

Blackbird- Black she-cat with yellow eyes / kits: Lilackit, Crimsonkit, and Midnightkit

Rosepool- Spotted gray she-cat / kits: Sweetkit and Shiningkit

Kits:

Lilackit- Black she-cat with green eyes

Crimsonkit- Reddish brown tom with green eyes

Midnightkit- Black with yellow eyes

Sweetkit- Spotted she-cat with blue eyes ㈌8

Shiningkit- Silver she-cat with green eyes ㈌8

Elders (Retired warriors):

Rockpelt- brown tom with amber eyes

Fallingwing- silver she-cat with blue eyes ㈌8

Mates:

Blackbird~Redspring

Rosepool~Runningwater

Sandfur~Lionclaw

* * *

**Shadowclan:**

Leader (in charge of the clan): Dawnstar- Light brown she-cat with yellow eyes

Deputy (assigns patrol, second in command): Darkfur- Black with green eyes

Medicine Cat (takes care of the clan): Pebblesplash- Gray tom with blue eyes

Medicine Cat Apprentice: Cranepaw- White tom with green eyes

Warriors (hunt and fight for the clan):

Willowstep- Brown tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

Rayshine- Pale brown tom with green eyes / apprentice: Whitepaw

Teardrop- Silver she-cat with blue eyes

Arrowdart- Ginger tom with yellow eyes

Apprentice (warriors in training):

Whitepaw- White tom with green eyes

Queens (Pregnant or has kits):

Serenityheart- Silver she-cat with blue eyes / kits: Furrykit and Mousekit

Kits:

Furrykit- White tom with blue eyes

Mousekit- Brown she-cat with green eyes

Elders (Retired warriors):

Eagleye- ruffled brown tom with yellow eyes

Mates:

Serenityheart~Rayshine

* * *

**Riverclan:**

Leader (in charge of the clan): Tawnystar- Mottled she-cat with pale yellow eyes

Deputy (assigns patrol, second in command): Roaringblaze- Bright ginger tom with green eyes

Medicine Cat (takes care of the clan): Gorseheart- Brown tabby tom with yellow eyes

Warriors (hunt and fight for the clan):

Whitewater- White she-cat with blue eyes

Ashstorm- Gray tom with yellow eyes

Heronstripe- Faint blue gray tom with blue eyes / Stripepaw

Sparrowfur- Brown tom with yellow eyes

Apprentice (warriors in training):

Stripepaw- Brown tabby with amber eyes

Queens (Pregnant or has kits):

none

Kits:

Mistkit- Gray she-cat with blue eyes (used to be part of the Abyss)

Elders (Retired warriors):

Firestorm- ginger tom with amber eyes

Birdcry- mottled she-cat with yellow eyes

Mates:

Tawnystar~Sparrowfur

Birdcry~Firestorm

* * *

**Windclan:**

Leader (in charge of the clan): Buzzardstar- Brown tom with yellow eyes

Deputy (assigns patrol, second in command): Crownose- Black tom with yellow eyes

Medicine Cat (takes care of the clan): Comfreystorm- White she-cat with green eyes

Medicine Cat Apprentice: Amberflight- Ginger brown she-cat with green eyes

Warriors (hunt and fight for the clan):

Shrewclaw- Brown tabby tom with yellow eyes

Breezeheart- Light brown tom with green eyes

Heatherstep- light brown she-cat with yellow eyes

Duckcloud- Black tom with blue eyes

Apprentice (warriors in training):

Sootpaw- Gray tom with blue eyes

Wasppaw- Yellowish gray tom with yellow eyes

Queens (Pregnant or has kits):

Fleckpelt- Spotted brown she-cat with yellow eyes / kits: unborn

Kits:

none

Elders (Retired warriors):

Shadedpelt- Black she-cat with green eyes

Mates:

Fleckpelt~Crownose

* * *

Loners:

Pearl- White she-cat with green eyes

Ember- Fiery ginger tom with green eyes

* * *

**The Abyss:**

Doyen (In charge of the clan): ?- Fat black tom with yellow eyes, _Interesting Fact: His Feeder name was Harpoon, but that was so long ago no one even remembers how it was possible for such a fat cat to hunt._

Commander (Second in command): Drake- Black tom with amber eyes, _Interesting Fact: I might mention this later on, but he was 'the voice' Blackbird was so scared of._

Herbal Master (healer): Ebony- Black she-cat with green eyes, _Interesting Fact: She still has a bit of soft kit fur, but will deny it if someone points it out. If the cat proceeds in pressing the subject, she is pretty skilled in fighting and will use her skill even though it only means more work for her._

Herbal Trainee: Soot- Black tom with pale yellow eyes, _Interesting fact: He is the only tom in the whole history of the Abyss (which was only about four generations) to be Herbal trainee/master._

Feeders:

Cheetah- Black she-cat with yellow eyes_, Interesting Fact: Despite her name, she is not very fast, just sneaky._

Ink- Black tom with green eyes, _Interesting Fact: His great-great-grandfather was a Windclan cat who fell in love with a __rogue._

Swoop- Black she-cat with yellow eyes, _Interesting Fact: She specializes in a 'swoop' hunting technique where she sits on a low branch and swings herself down when another feeder chases prey underneath to catch prey with her front claws. She then deals the killing blow on the tree. Her claws are slightly more hooked to make it easier._

Whisper- Black she-cat with blue eyes, _Interesting Fact: She is true fastest and quietest cat in the Feeder section._

Owl- Black tom with big yellow eyes, _Interesting Fact: He is often in a hunting group with Swoop and Whisper because they work so well together. Owl looks for the prey with his enlarged eyes, Whisper chases the prey, and Swoop catches it with her 'swoop' technique._

Lilith- A black she-cat with pretty emerald green eyes. She is quiet, keeps to herself and most of the time she is in the kit-den. She is popular with the males but likes to "dominate" females. She prefers to be in charge and many of the feeders and fighters are her kits, so they are loyal to her. She is Umbra's sister.~Shaystorm

Jagged- Black tom with yellow eyes, _Interesting Fact: He is the only tom, for the past two generations, to become a feeder._

Fighters:

Armageddon- Black tom with blue eyes, _Interesting Fact: He is the oldest non-prophet in the Abyss._

Conin- Black she-cat with white tail tip with yellow eyes, _Interesting Fact: Her white tail tip does not hold her back because she has perfected fighting with her tail tucked below her stomach._

Oblivion- Black tom with yellow eyes, _Interesting Fact: He can see clearly with his eyes slitted so that they were barely open so that his eyes don't give away his placement._

Burrow- Black tom with green eyes, _Interesting Fact: He is really good at digging even though he was never trained at it._

Coco- Black she-cat with brownish yellow eyes, _Interesting Fact: I wrote her personality after my dog, Coco._

Umbra- A black she-cat with sky blue eyes. She is popular with the older cats, but won't give newbies a second glance unless they prove themselves. If you get to know her, she's a nice cat with a (bad) sense of humor and a great friend and ally. Lilith is her sister (See carriers). ~Shaystorm

Luna- She is a nimble, athletic, ebony black she-cat with silver markings on her pelt and intense bronze-colored eyes. Left ears scarred and back paw twisted but is stronger because of it. Before joining the Abyss, her father was a loner and mother a kittypet but she and her brother left to go with their father. A year later her father was killed on the Thunderpath by a monster and Luna and her brother parted ways soon after. She is pretty quiet, obeys commands and takes criticism pretty hard but keeps silent. Has an unforgiving demeanor when it comes to insults and holds a strong hatred towards the Doyen and his daughters but only stays since she knows there are safety in numbers. Wishes to join the Clans but knows that she'll be killed if she does that. She sometimes gets kits out of the camp and leads them back to their mothers. Luna does this silently and swiftly never speaking word to the mother who receives her kits back. ~Howlsong13

Licorice- A black she-cat with blue eyes. _Interesting Fact: Had Zacharia's kits, Spirit Roar, Echo, and Mist_

Coal- Black tom with green eyes, _Interesting Fact: He wandered into the fighter's den as a kit and fell asleep inside on none other than his future ruthless master's nest._

Ribbon- Black she-cat with green eyes, _Interesting Fact: She started training after her two brothers, Jagged and Coal, because there were no she-cat fighters. Conin, on the other paw, had to finish her training early so she could train Ribbon._

Trainees:

Spirit- A black she-cat with soft blue eyes. _Interesting Fact: She is the only cat who knows of what Luna does and respects her greatly for it. She wants to be a fighter and wants Luna to be her master. _Master: Luna

Roar- A black she-cat with yellow eyes. _Interesting Fact: She became friends with Pearl's remaining kit Howl after his brother Blizzard was sacrificed. _Master: Coco

Echo- A black she-cat with blue eyes. _Interesting Fact: The three had one more sister, but her fur color was grey so the Doyen made Marionette take her to Riverclan once she was three moons old. _Master: Whisper

Howl- Black tom with green eyes. Master: Owl

Wanderers (Recruits new cats and search for possible territory):

Raven- Black tom with yellow eyes, _Interesting Fact: He is a __philosopher, always creating his own quotes._

Marionette- Black she-cat with blue eyes, _Interesting Fact: She was the only kit recruited by a wanderer._

Zacharia- Black tom with yellow eyes, _Interesting Fact: He is one of the only Abyss born wanderers.__  
_

Caretakers (takes care of all kits, wether they will be sacrificed or Abyss-born) :

Torn- Black she-cat with yellow eyes. She was born with only three paws and was not allowed to be trained. _Interesting Fact: Torn wanted to be a fighter and never really like kits, but she was forced to choose between being a caretaker or leaving the Abyss._

Blackie- Black she-cat with yellow eyes. She was formerly a kittypet and did not have any taste in fighting or killing animals so she became a caretaker since she was really good with kits. _Interesting Fact: Her kittypet name was Blackie Chan, but after finding out that her name was mocking a famous __twoleg so she ran away and shortened her name to Blackie._

Carriers:

None

Kits:

Spiral- A black tom with yellow eyes. _Interesting fact: He opened his eyes immediately after he was born, but his sister took several days_

Pepper- A black she-cat with blue eyes. _Interesting fact: Neither of her parents has blue eyes_

Prophets:

Dragon- An old black tom with haunted yellow eyes. _Interesting fact: He was youngest prophet of all time (Shimmer is now the youngest), but now the oldest cat in the Abyss. The Abyssinian seems to speak to him the most._

Onyx- A black she-cat with blue eyes. _Interesting fact: Although all of the Abyss' cats are black, everyone says that hers is the purest black of all._

Shimmer- A black she-cat with blue eyes. _Interesting fact: She is the youngest prophet ever and many cats think she is too naive to be one. Maybe they are right. Maybe she is only prophet because Onyx is her mother..._

Prisoners:

Lilackit- Black she-cat with green eyes

Crimsonkit- Reddish brown tom with green eyes

Midnightkit- Black with yellow eyes

Mates:

Onyx~Mackerel㈌8

Lilith~Oblivion

Licorice~Zachariah

Conin~Raven

* * *

**Prologue**

A cat stood rigid as it sensed itself being surrounded. Its neck fur bristled with defiance. "I will never give in!" the cat roared. No answer. No sounds except for the cat's quivering paws. The attackers were slowly closing in, so painfully slowly. As if waiting for her to break out with nervousness.

Then a voice pierced through the silence. "Why are you here again?" came the deep voice from right behind her.

She whipped around to confront the other cat. 'The leader,' she thought. 'The one who has inflicted so much pain on me.' An agonizing pang erupted through her body as blood spurted on the ground. One of the ruffians had attacked her flank, only to disappear back into the shadows before she could retaliate. But she didn't flinch, nor make a sound. Her trembling body stilled as she answered the leader's question, but this time with a much colder voice. "Why, you ask?" she laughed humorlessly. "Why did I come back? You know why. You stole my kits and I am here to take them back!"

"You'll never find them. You come here for a lost cause," the voice answered. "Leave now before I am forced to kill you."

"Even if I did leave, you would just hunt me down," She sighed.

"If that means that you will not go, I will have to kill you."

She nodded, "Then I will leave you to peace. For now." She padded away, head lifted, conserving the dignity she still had left.

The leader listened to her paw steps fade away. Back to her cowardly clan, he knew. Back to a group of cats too scared to help her regain her kits. He also knew that there was more than one Clan. Four of them. All trained to fight and that made them troublesome. If all four Clans joined together to fight them they might have a chance. He knew that all he had to do was make sure they had all the advantages. His group was accustomed to pitch blackness so all he had to do was lure them to the darkest of forests, besides the dark forest of course, and attack. So he let the she-cat escape to bring news to the clans. To bring news of the Abyss.

* * *

**_Author's Note: _This is my first novel and I hope its good! This was just the introduction so it was really really really short. I will try to update as soon as possible. Thanks for reading and please review! / I combined the ****allegiances and prologue because of the rules. Thanks Bluecatz!**


	2. Chapter 1: New Life

**Chapter 1: New Life**

Blackbird sat in Thunderclan's nursery gazing down happily at her three newborn kits. Their names were Midnightkit, Lilackit, and Crimsonkit as she and her mate Redspring had named them.

Lilackit's eyes were already open and was sniffing around while the other two were kneading their mother's stomach for more milk. Crimsonkit pushed her sister aside as he burrowed into Blackbird's soft fur. Midnightkit gave a squeak of complaint, but was too weak to fight back.

Blackbird frowned. Midnightkit was obviously at the back of the pack. Once she thought that Crimsonkit had enough milk, she gently nudged him aside to leave room more Midnightkit. Midnightkit lunged more the opening and fed for a long time. The tired queen beckoned for her kits to gather around her to sleep, but then remembered two of them couldn't see yet and led them with her tail.

Blackbird was surrounded by trees and it was freezing cold. She shivered all the way down to her bones. She looked around and she couldn't see anything... because it was pitch black. She could hear the leaves rustle and feel the grass underpaw, but she couldn't see and without her sense of sight she felt vulnerable. Then a voice echoed all around her, "Blackbird... Blackbird... Blackbird..."

She woke up and saw Meadowleaf looking down at her. "Blackbird? Ok, good. You're awake," the medicine cat meowed as she nudged some leaves toward the queen. "Eat this borage. It will help your milk come."

She licked up the leaves, still startled by her terrifying dream. "Thanks Meadowleaf," she murmured gratefully. When she looked up she saw the medicine cat gazing at her worriedly. "What? Is something wrong with my kits?" she asked hurriedly with wide eyes.

"No, no," Meadowleaf answered. "You just seemed a little uncomfortable. Is there something you want to talk about?"

"I..." Blackbird blinked. "No, nothing to worry about. Just a bad dream."

As she spoke her last words, Lilackit woke up and started wailing. Blackbird licked the kit's head until she calmed down. "Uh... Why don't you go outside and play once your siblings wake up?" she suggested. "You seem full of energy and besides, it's time you meet the clan!"

Lilackit nodded enthusiastically and right one cue, Crimsonkit woke up blinking his eyes open for the first time. "Midnightkit!" Lilackit squealed. "Wake up so we can go play outside!" Blackbird closed her eyes and went back to sleep as Midnihghtkit groaned and flicked her ears angrily. Lilackit narrowed her eyes and poked her sister. "Wake up!"

"No," Midnightkit grunted sleepily.

"Come on! Open your eyes!" Lilackit urged. "Crimsonkit and I already did."

Midnightkit felt a wave of disbelief. She was last? There was no way she would be last in anything, but what if she didn't like it with her eyes open. The darkness was very comforting. Finally her challenging spirit won over and she tore open her eyes and looked around bound in silence by amazement. She gasped as she looked at her siblings. One was black like her mother and one was a reddish gray. They both had beautiful green eyes. "What do I look like?" she blurted.

Lilackit gave her a strange look. "What?" she blinked.

"What color is my fur? And my eyes?" she answered enthusiastically, not allowing herself to be swayed by her sister's tone.

"You're black like me and you have yellow eyes like mother," Lilackit squeaked.

"Like mother," Midnightkit echoed. She went to her mother and prodded her head. Blackbird grunted and opened her eyes to look at her kit. It was true! Her eyes were yellow and they were beautiful. "I hope mine are like that," she thought aloud.

Blackbird smiled, now wide awake. "Why don't you go outside and check in a puddle," she paused. "Of course groom yourselves first! It'll be your first time seeing the clan, but don't forget it's also their first time seeing you."

The kits nodded seriously. They wanted to make the best first impression on the clan as possible. They licked themselves until Lilackit shuffled her paws impatiently, "Can we please go now?"

Blackbird nodded proudly, "I think you're ready."

Lilackit led the way, chin held high as she announced, "The kits are coming through. Make way!"

A brown tom and a ginger she-cat watched the kits with an amused look on their faces. "It's Blackbird's three kits, isn't it?" the tom asked.

Crimsonkit nodded importantly, "Yup, I'm Crimsonkit and this is Lilackit and Midnightkit." He pointed to each of his sisters with his tail as he said their names.

The she-cat smiled. "I'm Sandfur," she meowed.

"And I'm Lionclaw," the other cat added.

"Can you show us some battle moves?" Crimsonkit urged excitedly.

Sandfur looked at Lionclaw with pretend thoughtfulness, "Well, should we?"

Lionclaw stifled a laugh. "Sure."

Lilackit leapt up with joy. "Yes! What will we learn?"

"Let's start with the basic front paw swipe," Sandfur suggested. She demonstrated the move, "The trick is to keep an even base as you swipe."

Crimsonkit narrowed her eyes with concentration as he square her paws and swiped. Lilackit yipped with delight and scratched at her invisible foe without hesitation. Their other sister stood still and watched her siblings practice.

Lionclaw looked at Midnightkit worriedly, "Are by you ok? Why aren't you practicing?"

"I wanted to study them," she waved her tail at her littermates. "That way I can see what they're doing wrong and make sure I don't make the same mistakes."

"Smart," Sandfur praised. "This'll one will be a good warrior."

Midnightkit beamed, "You bet I will!"

"We'll be good warriors, too!" Lilackit complained. "In fact, I'll be leader one day."

"I know you all will be good warriors," a cat answered and when the others turned to look at him he purred. "I'm Redspring, your father."

The kits squealed in delight and leapt on him. "Shadowclan intruder!"

Redspring sighed happily, "These'll be a handful."

* * *

_**Author's Note:** _Sorry it took a long time to post this chapter. Please enjoy and review!


	3. Chapter 2: Trouble Arises

**Chapter 2: Trouble Arises**

"Blackbird woke up a moon later with her kits curled up next to her. Her belly was hollow with hunger so she got up carefully so she would not disturb her kits. She stretched and gave herself a few brisk licks before heading out the nursery door. She passed by Rosepool who had recently moved to the nursery. As she walked out she bumped into Runningwater. "Oh, hi Runningwater," she meowed awkwardly.

"Hi Blackbird. Just going in to visit Rosepool," he answered. "I hope she's doing ok. This is the first time we're having kits." His vision clouded with worry.

"Mind you, remember that she's the one having them, not you," Blackbird joked. When she only got a nod in return she started walking, "See you around."

She reached the fresh-kill pile and picked a mouse. She was about to take a bite when she spotted a yawning apprentice emerging. "Come share Lightningpaw!"

Lightningpaw nodded eagerly and laid down next to the queen, "How are the kits?"

Blackbird swallowed the food in her mouth before answering. "They're good," she replied. "How is your training?"

"I just got apprenticed and Rushpelt is already working me really hard!" he muttered. "To think I was a kit a few days ago..."

"Don't worry you'll get used to it," she laughed. As they finished the last gulps, Lightningpaw dipped his head goodbye and went looking for Rushpelt. Blackbird stood up and shook the dirt out of her fur and headed back to the nursery.

As she entered her kit squealed her name. She nodded to Rosepool and Runningwater. "Midnightkit, go gather a mossball," Blackbird announced. "We're going to play!" Midnightkit rushed out the nursery and returned with a bundle of moss.

Blackbird marched out with her kits following behind. She gathered the moss and formed it into a ball. She flinged the ball and the kits chased after it. Lilackit got to it first and she hooked it into the air and Crimsonkit leapt and snagged it in his jaws. He tossed his head and the mossball flung towards Blackbird again, but Lilackit intercepted it in midair. She batted it into the air again and Midnightkit knocked it out of the air and to the paws of Bluefog, an elder. She blinked as it hit her paws. "Watch it!" she snapped. "Next time I won't rest outside the den anymore."

"Calm down, Bluefog," Roostercry slurred sleepily next to her.

"Us elders are too old to have kits tromping all over us," Blufog muttered as she closed her eyes.

"Nice going Midnightkit," Lilackit hissed.

"Now, now Lilackit," Blackbird scolded. "Be nice."

Midnightkit suddenly found her paws very interesting. They had gotten in trouble because of her. "Sorry," she murmured.

"Hey kits!" Roostercry called. "You want to hear a story?"

The kits suddenly cheered up and scrambled after each other over to Roostercry. Blackbird let out a sigh of relief. "I don't know how the elders can handle them."

"You certainly do very well," Meadowleaf meowed as she padded towards the queen.

"I really need to get out of camp," she sighed. "It's getting really boring."

"Maybe I can ask Barkstar if you can go on one patrol," the medicine cat offered. "But only one."

"Yes!" Blackbird leapt to her paws. "I'll go ask Redspring if he'll watch the kits."

Meadowleaf nodded and padded towards the leader's den. Blackbird headed the other direction towards the warrior's den. "Redspring?" she whispered. The red tom raised his head to look at her.

"Blackbird!" he meowed cheerfully. "Wait, I'll come outside." Blackbird's head disappeared as she back out. Redspring arched his back and walked out, avoiding other warrior's stray tails. "I'm here."

"Mind if I take a patrol today?" she asked.

"Well, I don't-" he saw the desperation in her eyes and gave in. "Ok, fine, but only if Barkstar is ok with it."

"Meadowleaf is asking now and you know how Barkstar just can't say no to her," Blackbird joked. She rested her tail on his back and pushed her muzzle into his shoulder.

He purred. "Hurry now," he meowed. "I have a patrol with Swiftshadow, Rushpelt, and Lightningpaw. Shadowclan border, I think."

"Thanks, Redspring," she murmured. She met Meadowleaf next to the fresh-kill pile. "He said yes, right?"

"Yeah," Meadowleaf nodded.

"I'll take Redspring's patrol," she answered. "I got to go! There's Swiftshadow assigning patrols now."

"A deputy's work is hard," Meadowleaf flicked her ears. "Go!"

Blackbird shuffled over to Swiftshadow. "I'm taking Redspring's spot in the patrol."

"Actually we're going to be a hunting patrol," Swiftshadow informed her. "The fresh-kill pile is shrinking now that Cloverpaw is awake." The whole clan knew Cloverpaw ate a lot, but she hunted really well to make up for it.

"Ok, that sounds good with me!" Blackbird was ready to agree with anything as long as it meant getting out of camp. "Let's go."

The deputy led the way out of camp. "Let's go to the far corner near the tallpines."

"Ok, Swiftshadow," Lightningpaw chirped.

Blackbird scented the air and caught a faint scent of squirrel. She stalked through the undergrowth carefully as the scent got stronger. She spotted it busily cracking a nut. 'Good,' she thought. 'If it's focused on the nut I can sneak up on it.' When she was a few tail-lenghts away, she leapt. She landed on it and cracked its neck bone with a nip. She picked it up and padded back to the group. Then she heard a twig crack behind her. She whipped around, but stayed low to the ground. A black loner was sniffing around the trees, but after a few moments, it shuffled away out of the territory towards the twolegplace. She narrowed her eyes, but continued back to her patrol. She dropped the squirrel in front of them. "I saw a loner," she reported.

"What? Where?" the deputy questioned.

"It went towards the twolegplace," she answered. "It didn't have any scent I knew..."

"If it went out I don't think we have anything to worry about, but I'll increase border patrols in that area," Swiftshadow decided.

The two cats heard a rustle as Lightningpaw and Rushpelt appeared out of the bushes. Lightningpaw was holding two mice and Rushpelt had a thrush. Swiftshadow nodded, "Let's go. I think we have enough prey." He led the way back to camp. "Blackbird, come with me to report to Barkstar."

Blackbird nodded, "I'll be there in a second." She dropped off her squirrel and joined Swiftshadow on the way to the leader's den.

"Swiftshadow, Blackbird," Barkstar greeted his deputy and warrior. "What brings you here? No bad trouble I hope."

"Nothing too serious anyway," Swiftshadow replied. "Blackbird, tell him what you saw."

"I just caught a squirrel and was heading back to the patrol when I heard a cat snap a twig behind me. I saw a black cat sniffing around and then its ears pricked up as if something alerted it. It padded towards the twolegplace and disappeared. That's when I came back and reported to Swiftshadow."

Barkstar studied the information closely. "I think since it hasn't proven to be a serious threat yet, all we can do is increase border patrols in that area. Let's just hope there aren't more."

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**:** I got bored so I decided to write another chapter :D! Please review and enjoy!


	4. Chapter 3: Moving Away

**Chapter 3: Moving Away**

Since Blackbird had seen the rogue, more and more cats were seen creeping around the territory, but none were ever caught. Some bolder intruders even attacked Thunderclan cats. Timberblaze had a broken leg, Crystalgaze had an infected cut, and Maplepaw had a scratched eye. Many others had been attacked, but escaped or drove them out without serious injury.

One moon after Blackbird spotted the rogue, Rosepool had two kits. A spotted she-cat with blue eyes named Sweetkit and a silver she-cat with green eyes named Shiningkit. Runningwater was constantly bringing fresh-kill and adding to everyone's worries by his constant running back and forth.

A yowl emitted from the entrance of the camp. "Redspring!" Wolfwind screeched. "We were attacked and Redspring is _really_ hurt!"

Meadowleaf rushed out of the medicine cat den quickly. "Move," she ordered. "I need to check him." With one look at the injured cat, she meowed. "Cloverpaw, go get some wet moss!" Cloverpaw nodded then dashed off.

Blackbird pushed her way through the crowd of cats. "Please move!" she screamed. "I have to see him!" The cats gradually moved out of her way. "Redspring! Redspring, can you hear me?" Redspring didn't answer nor even move.

As Cloverpaw came back, Meadowleaf rinsed Redspring's fur and inspected the injury. I was big and oozing fresh blood. It scratched from behind his ear down to his tail. Meadowleaf stiffened. "He stopped breathing," she gasped then laid a paw on his flack. "He's not breathing!"

Blackbird started crying his name. "Redspring, please! Redspring don't die! Redspring! I need you! Please!" she sobbed.

Meadowleaf rested her tail on Blackbird's back, "He's gone, Blackbird. I'm sorry."

"No! No!" she cried. "That can't be right! Starclan can't be so cruel!"

Meadowleaf announced gently, "Everyone clear out. Give her some space." The cats padded away casting glances over their shoulders to look at Blackbird and Redspring.

Blackbird heard quiet paws approaching her, but didn't take her eyes off of her dead mate. Three tiny muzzles were pushed into her fur. Her kits... "When is daddy waking up?" Lilackit asked.

"Never, little one," she whispered. "I'm so sorry." The kits joined her and mourned Redspring. This was too much. First injuries and now her mate was _dead_! It was as if the clan wasn't safe anymore. Her eyelids drooped as she thought and she fell asleep.

Blackbird was standing at the center of camp with all of her clanmates around her. Suddenly Redspring let out a gasp and disappeared followed by Runningwater, then Wolfwind. They kept disappearing until only her kits remained next to her. Then all three kits fell and disappeared simultaneously. Blood washed over the ground and covered her.

Then she felt a tiny paw prodding her flank. "You fell asleep," Crimsonkit whispered.

By now she had made up her mind. The clans were no longer safe so she had to leave. "Follow me," she mewed. "We're going on an adventure."

Lilackit leapt to her paws, "Ooh! I like adventures!"

"Good, let's go." She led the way out of camp.

"I thought we weren't supposed to go out of camp until we're apprentices," Midnightkit exclaimed worriedly.

"This is special," Blackbird answered. "We're not coming back."

Crimsonkit gasped, "But our life is in Thunderclan!"

"Not anymore," Blackbird sighed. "It's not safe anymore. We have to leave." The kits' gazes darkened as they understood what their mother was saying, but they knew there was no changing her mind. They followed her silently. Blackbird stopped, "This is the edge of Thunderclan territory..." Midnightkit's eyes widened with hope, but frowned when Blackbird kept walking. The sun began to rise as Blackbird slowed down. "Rest. We will live around here from now on." They had reached a dip in the ground next to a stream. Trees towered over them so it felt like Thunderclan territory. The kits let out a sigh of relief as they got a chance to rest and drink from the stream. "I'm going to go hunt," she murmured. "You guys stay here." She padded off and left the kits alone.

"Let's get moss to make nests," Crimsonkit suggested. The other kits nodded agreement and set off to the roots of some trees. They clawed off moss and Crimsonkit plopped it all on Lilackit and Midnightkit who they agreed to carry the moss back. When they reached their dip, they set the moss down and began forming nests.

Blackbird arrived soon after carrying to mice and a thrush. The kits scrambled over the prey relieving they aching hunger. Blackbird ate a mouse and then settled down in the new nests to rest briefly. Then after a quick rest, she got up. "I'll go scout around for a more sheltered place and see if there are any rogues or loners around.

She padded around the territory sniffing a cave here, or taking note of a fox den. She eventually found a shallow cave that would be good for shelter. She went back to the kits and told them to follow her to the cave. "Pick up the moss, Lilackit. Here, I'll help," she meowed as she pawed the boss into a more portable ball. "The shelter is this way."

On their way, they passed the fox den. "Take a good whiff," she advised. "This is fox, stay away from it."

The kits nodded with wide eyes. "Yes, mother!" they chirped.

When they reached the cave, they set down the moss and formed new nests. By now, the sun was setting and it was rapidly getting darker. "I'll go catch some more prey and then we will sleep." Blackbird returned a while later with a squirrel and a magpie. "Dig in..." she meowed as she took a bite of the squirrel. When they were all full, they gathered around Blackbird as she told a story.

"One night when the Dark Forest touched the territories, the Thunderclan leader, Firestar led all four clans to attack the Dark Forest. The Dark Forest was ruthless and many cats died. But then Starclan came and fought. They blazed through the trees, moor, and river and claimed the land for the clans once more. Tigerstar, a Dark Forest warrior didn't give up and came to kill Firestar once and for all, but Firestar defeated him and he faded forever. Firestar's victory did come with a price, though. Firestar died soon after, but the clans lived on thanks to Firestar's sacrifice. One day, I hoped that you three would be like him. Serving your clan with every breath, but that was not to be," Blackbird recited.

"That reminds me," she continued. "We have to change your names now that your are not part of the clan. You will now be Lilac, Midnight, and Crimson..."

"No!" Lilac wailed. "I want to be Lilackit!"

Blackbird only lowered her head and fell asleep.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**: **This chapter was actually very boring to write XD... But I got it done and it was necessary so... please review and stay tuned!


	5. Chapter 4: The Missing Kits

**Chapter 4: The Missing Kits**

A moon had passed with nothing eventful happening. Their days had faded into a boring schedule. Wake up, hunt, patrol, hunt, and sleep with an occasional moss gathering. The kits had grown bored and lazy, but Blackbird was constantly walking around looking for danger.

One night they had settled down to sleep and for the second time since they had left the clans she told a story.

"There once was an evil cat who fought only to rule all four clans. He thought of terrible plans to kill his leader and take over. His pelt was pure black and he had yellow eyes, much like me. But his leader discovered his plans he was driven out. He is now a rogue who scours this land for stray cats that he can recruit to kill the clans so if you don't watch your back, he might get you..." she finished. She told her story based off of the nursery tale of Brokenstar. She had changed most of it, but it still served same purpose. It would scare the kits enough so they would behave.

"Sleep now," she breathed. She curled around kits and fell asleep listening their heartbeats.

When she woke up, the den was cold and missing the body heat of three kits. She leapt to her paws and looked around. "Lilac! Midnight! Crimson!" she called.

No answer.

Then she caught a scent. Scent that was all too familiar. She had scented this scent on the rogue she had seen. She had scented this scent on the injured cats and on Redspring. And now here in their makeshift den with her kits missing.

She raced outside and scented the air. There! She caught the scent and followed it. Then the scent suddenly got stronger. It was a scent line. Was there another clan no one knew about? She crossed it and entered the territory.

The forest got darker as she went in deeper, then a deep haunting voice spoke. "Why are you here?" then with a pause added. "Don't try to run, we have you surrounded."

Blackbird trembled underneath her fur, but forced her voice to remain steady. "Who are you?" she whimpered.

"The Abyss," the voice answered.

"You have my kits and I want them back," she hissed, with a burst of courage.

"We can't lose any kits or we might not have enough to sacrifice to the Abyssinian. You must leave."

She knew she had to stay calm or they would know she was weak. "What is the Abyssinian?"

"The one we worship," the voice commanded. "Now leave!"

Something in the voice told her that there would be no more talking. She walked slowly away. She could scent the cats following her in case she didn't exit the territory. She quickened to a faster pace and tried to escape the cats, but they didn't leave her until she was several fox lengths out of the territory. She stopped to rest and one of the cats dashed out and scratched her back. The cat faded into the shadows before she looked over her shoulder.

She sprang away as pain seared through her. She ran again crashing through the trees crying. A loner saw her and cocked his head. "Hello? Why are you crying? You're scaring away all the prey."

"The Abyss stole my kits," she wailed.

The loner hissed. "The Abyss? I knew they would cause trouble. Blabbering on and on about some stupid cat god, the Abyssinian, or something like that."

"They're going to sacrifice them," Blackbird whimpered. "They're going to sacrifice them to the Abyssinian."

The loner gasped. "Really?"

She nodded. "They wouldn't give it back because then there wouldn't be enough kits to sacrifice."

"That explains a lot," the loner murmured. "That's where Pearl's kits went. They just disappeared during the night. Before we went to sleep they were there then the next morning they weren't. They just disappeared!"

"That's exactly what happened to me," she added. "Who's Pearl?"

"A cat I live with," he answered. "I found her with her kits so I decided to feed them and care for them. Oh, I'm Ember by the way."

"I'm Blackbird," she introduced herself. "I come from one of the clans."

"Then why aren't they helping you get back your kits?" Ember cocked his head.

She lowered her head embarrassed. "I ran away from them when my mate died."

He shrugged, "So? I would have too."

"That's not how the clans work. Once you're in one, you have to stay loyal and protect your clan," then determined to change the topic she mewed. "And since I scared away all your prey, perhaps I should help you hunt?"

Ember smiled. "Thanks. I would like that."

The padded side by side scenting the air. Then Ember raised his tail slightly, "Mouse."

Blackbird nodded and circled around the rodent. She suddenly leapt and yowled scaring the mouse into Ember's paws who killed it with a swift stroke. "Nice kill!" Blackbird congratulated. "A warrior couldn't have done better!"

"Warrior?" he narrowed his eyes confusedly then shook his head. "Never mind. If I don't need to know, then I won't."

Blackbird laughed. "Let's bring the prey back to Pearl now. Where do you guys live anyway?" When she saw Ember hesitate she added. "But you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Ember shook his head. "No, it's ok. It's this way." He waved his tail and lead the way.

Blackbird scented the sweet smell of milk and she knew they were drawing near. "Pearl?" Ember called. "I'm back and I brought another cat with me."

"Who?" asked a high voice.

"A cat named Blackbird. She helped me catch prey," Ember mewed.

"Come in," Pearl approved.

Ember waved his tail to signal for Blackbird to come in first. Blackbird nodded and shuffled into the small den. "We caught you a mouse," she mewed.

Pearl purred. "Thank you. I am definitely hungry." Then wistfully she added, "My kits must be too..."

Blackbird lowered her head. "Ember told me the Abyss got your kits. They took mine as well."

Pearl gazed at Blackbird sadly. "I miss them so much! I hope they're all right."

Blackbird gasped as she remembered something. "Oh, no!"

"What?" Pearl questioned worriedly.

"They're going to sacrifice the kits!" she wailed.

Pearl's eyes widened in shock. "What?" she screeched. "They can't! My sweet kits. We must rescue them!"

Blackbird nodded. "We will go together."

Pearl looked at the other she-cat with a determined look on her face. "Together," she echoed. "Win or die together."

Blackbird smiled at the queen. "And with the kits too."

Ember, who was previously watching the exchange silently, coughed meaningfully. "No can do," he interrupted. "Pearl can't go. I swore to protect her and I will not let her go into this danger. Besides, what are the odds of you two winning against the whole group?"

Blackbird laughed at the worried tom. "Don't worry. We weren't going to charge head on at the Abyss, obviously. Us she-cats aren't as dimwitted as you toms."

Ember's neck fur bristled. "Well what was I supposed to expect?" he snapped.

"A plan," she mewed simply. "And I have one that might work."

* * *

**_Author's Note_:** **Sorry I took so long to update. I'm on vacation and I had no internet access until now. Sorry :(... But here it is anyway. Please review and enjoy! / YAY! I got my first follow/favorite! Thank you Firewind360!**


	6. Chapter 5: The Plan In Action

**Chapter 5: The Plan In Action**

"Pearl and I will go together, yet apart," Blackbird started.

"How is it possible?" Ember interrupted impatiently.

"I'm getting to that, Ember," she mewed impatiently. "Anyway, we will travel at the _same time_, but in _different places_. Does that answer your question?"

Ember nodded meekly and Pearl grinned, amused. "Not many people can force Ember into submission," she purred. "I'm impressed."

Blackbird smiled. "Back to the plan. I will go in the same way I did last time, but you, Pearl, will go in another way. I will make noise to attract their attention while you sneak in and get the kits. Since mine are all old enough to walk, you can take them all at the same time."

"Mine should be too by now," Pearl added. "I might need to carry Howl, though... He was the weaker of the two."

Blackbird shrugged. "You can figure it out once you're there. Ember," she addressed the tom. "First you will follow me and go to Pearl once I am deep enough into the territory. I'll wave my tail to tell you when. Then you will go to Pearl and tell her to go. Shadow her to make sure she is not hurt."

"Done," he mewed solemnly.

"Are we all good with the plan?" Blackbird asked.

The two other cats exchanged a determined glance and nodded.

"Good, then here we go," she purred. "Let's go decide on a place for Pearl to start." She led the way out of the den and towards the Abyss's territory. They traveled the border until the sun was setting and decided on a stretch of grass next to a river. "This is good. You can hunt and drink to make sure you're fresh and ready for the job tomorrow. Now let's get back to the-" She broke off uncertainly. "Uh... Is it ok if I sleep with you guys tonight? I have nowhere to stay."

"Of course!" Pearl cried. "I'm ashamed that you even had to ask."

"Thank you so much," Blackbird purred.

Pearl shook her head. "It is I who should thank you. After all, if you never showed up, I would never have even had a hope of getting my kits back."

"Well don't thank me yet," she muttered darkly. "There are many things that can go wrong."

"Don't think like that," Ember complained.

"If you expect the worse, you can't be surprised," she mewed. "It's better to be prepared."

Ember pondered the words for a few moments then nodded. "I suppose so."

"There's the den!" Pearl alerted them. They quickened the pace and entered the den.

The three cats bid each other goodnight, curled up together, and fell asleep. In the middle of the night, Blackbird woke the loners up. "Wake up," she urged. "It's time."

Pearl sat up instantly, but Ember only lifted his head and blinked sleepily. "Why so early? The sun hasn't even risen yet."

"We need to get in our spots before there is light," she explained.

"That way, the Abyss can't see us yet," Pearl added.

Ember got up and staggered awkwardly. He licked his chest fur embarrassed. "We're not used to waking up early," he muttered.

"Pearl seems to be getting along fine," Blackbird teased, smiling to take the sting out of her words.

Ember blinked surprised. He had not expected anyone to hear him. "Well..." he could think of no answer so he just tossed his head. "Let's just go."

Pearl didn't laugh as she normally would have. 'Looks like the pressure is finally getting to her,' Blackbird thought, but she didn't say anything. She signaled for Pearl to lead the way. As she fell back she mewed to Ember. "She hasn't done anything like this before, hasn't she."

Ember shook his head embarrassed. "She was... Err... A kittypet..." he admitted.

"Really?" Blackbird meowed, trying unsuccessfully to cover her shock.

"Yeah," he added. "When she had kits she ran away because she was afraid the twoleg would take them away."

"But her kits were taken anyway," she murmured.

Ember nodded mournfully. Looking to change the topic he pricked his ears and mewed just loudly enough for the other two cats to hear. "There's the spot, Pearl. You wait there, I'll be right back. Let's go Blackbird." The rest of the journey had no exchange of words. The two cats were too nervous to talk. Besides, if they did talk, someone might hear them.

When they approached the area where Blackbird had exited the Abyss's territory the day before, Ember nodded at Blackbird and slowly began to fall back. Blackbird watched him over her shoulder until his ginger fur blended into the shadows and she lost sight of him.

Her paws trembled as she walked on. There were so many things that could go wrong that they hadn't planned about. For example, she might walk straight to there camp without being found or some cat might catch Pearl. She signaled to Ember with her tail and suddenly felt more alone, more vulnerable.

To distract herself from her worries she thought about her kits and her time with them and the clan. She remembered the first time she had opened her eyes and saw her mother, dead from kitting her. With no current queens, everyone thought she would die, but Fallingwing wouldn't let her go. The elder had chewed up fresh-kill into mush and fed it to her. Blackbird had lived to everyone's surprise.

A strong scent jarred her from the past. It was the Abyss. "Leave now," a voice echoed through the forest.

"I will never give in!" she snarled, then added a hiss for good measure.

She knew cats were closing in around her, slowly padding toward her, but she heard nothing. The voice did not utter a word and neither did she. The the voice spoke again, this time closer. "Why are your here again?"

She pinpointed the voice behind her and she turned to confront it. As she opened her mouth to speak, a pain scorched through her as a cat clawed her flank, only to melt back into the shadows as they had the day before. She knew she had to stay calm so she forced her body to still as she spoke. She kept her voice even and cold. "Why, you ask?" she laughed humorlessly. "Why did I come back? You know why. You stole my kits and I am here to take them back!"

"You'll never find them. You come here for a lost cause," the voice warned. "Leave now before I am forced to kill you."

"Even if I did leave, you would just hunt me down," she muttered.

"If that means that you will not go, I will have to kill you," the voice repeated.

After a pause, she nodded, "Then I will leave you to peace. For now." She padded away, head lifted, trying to hide a smile. The plan had worked.

* * *

**_Author's Note_: **Thanks for reading! This is where the prologue is included in the story. Please review!


	7. Chapter 6: What Went Wrong

**Chapter 6: What Went Wrong**

Blackbird padded out of the Abyss's territory with a smile. She stopped in her tracks. There was something wrong. They had forgotten to pick a spot to meet up!

"I'll just go to where Pearl was going to enter the territory," she muttered to herself. She slunk along the border until she reached Pearl's starting spot. There was a stale scent of the two rouges and an even staler scent of herself. She frowned, and scented the air. 'Perhaps they already went back to their home,' she thought. She rushed back to the den and once she was outside, scented the air.

Fresh scent came from inside the den. She cried out with pleasure. They were inside. Pearl had probably brought the kits back just to be safe. "Hello!" she called. "Come my little kits."

The only answer was a whimper from Pearl and a calming murmur from Ember. Dread creeped into her as she realized they failed. "No, no, no," she cried as she ducked into the den. "That can't be right. The plan was brilliant! What happened?"

Pearl just emitted another whimper. Her eyes were gaunt and haunted. Ember stood up and shook the dust out of his pelt. "There was a guard," he explained. "Pearl couldn't get in."

"_A_ guard? Only _one_? Then why didn't you attack. I'm sure you could have beaten one guard," Blackbird muttered confusedly.

"It's my fault!" Pearl blurted out suddenly, with the sullen look still on her face.

Blackbird gulped and looked at the she-cat. She tried to keep a calm face. "Explain," she nodded at the other queen.

"After a long t-time, Ember d-didn't show up so I-I went ahead," Pearl looked about ready to kick herself. "I-I was stupid. I-I just imagined my kits suffering with the Abyss and I-I couldn't wait..."

"When I got to where Pearl and I were supposed to meet I didn't see her anywhere so I panicked," Ember admitted, pretending not to hear her stutter. "I was too scared to think so I ran back here, but she wasn't here either."

Blackbird waited for him to say more, but he didn't. "Then what did you do?" she asked.

"I stayed here and waited for her," he whispered. He hung his head. "I should have gone after her! I should have looked more!"

"N-No, it's not your fault," Pearl comforted monotonously. "I-It's mine." Her eyes were still wide with horror and she looked as if she could barely see or hear what was going on around her.

"It's neither of your fault," Blackbird announced. "Things happen. The past is the past. You can't help it so don't worry about it."

Ember looked at Blackbird with a sulking glance, looked away, then nodded. Pearl just stared ahead at nothing in particular. It seemed like she was in another world.

"Pearl? What happened?" Blackbird narrowed her eyes with worry. A failed mission shouldn't strike her into this traumatized state.

When she didn't answer she turned to look at Ember for an explanation, but he just shrugged. "You came in right after she told me about the guard. She didn't finish the story."

Blackbird nodded then looked back at Pearl. "Please, Pearl. You have to tell us. What happened after you saw the guard?"

Pearl whispered something so quiet no one could hear her. "What?" Blackbird mewed. "I couldn't hear you."

"I tried to creep around the 'nursery'," Pearl repeated.

"And then what?" Blackbird urged her. "We have to know."

"There was this _huge_ hole. Like a huge scratch in the ground. It was many fox-lenghts away, but it was so big you couldn't miss it," Pearl mewed. "It was like a never ending pit of darkness."

"An Abyss," Blackbird realized with wide eyes.

"Yes!" Pearl cried. "An Abyss!"

Blackbird gasped. "That must be how they sacrifice to the Abyssinian! They throw the kits down the hole!"

"No!" Pearl screeched. New life seeped into her as realization dawned into her eyes. "This can not happen!"

"There's only one way to beat them," Blackbird murmured thoughtfully.

A new plan was hatching and Pearl knew it. Her eyes had the determination that it had before the failed plan. Ember sighed happily. As long as Blackbird was here, they had hope. "How?" he asked.

"We need Thunderclan."

"You mean the clan you talked so much about?" Pearl cocked her head.

"Yeah. We're trained in fighting and we are many so we can win!" Blackbird smiled triumphantly.

The black she-cat's mood caught on and the loners started smiling as well.

"I'll go to them right now," she decided. "It's not late yet. You guys stay here. I'll be right back." She raced towards her clan like she had wings on her paws. She came to a halt at the scent line. The sun was sinking and beginning to set. She had to hurry.

She stepped into the territory and heard a voice screech, "Halt! What is your business?"

Swiftshadow! She scented the air. Crystalgaze, Rushpelt, and Lightningpaw were with him. "It's me! Blackbird," she called out.

She saw Lightningpaw's ginger head poke out of some bushes. "It's true!" he squealed happily. He rushed to her and nuzzled her ear.

The other cats emerged. They looked less welcoming than the cheerful apprentice. Confusion slowly crept into her eyes. "Come with us," Swiftshadow mewed emotionlessly. He beckoned with his tail and the other cats followed. Blackbird hesitated before following suit. "Run ahead to tell Barkstar, Crystalgaze," he ordered. Crystalgaze nodded at the deputy and ran to camp.

When Blackbird emerged into the camp she saw many emotions. Some of pure joy from Meadowleaf and Fallingwing, some of hatred like from Timberblaze and Rockpelt, and some emotionless from Barkstar and Rosepool. She stopped worriedly.

"Blackbird," Barkstar mewed coolly. "Where have you been?"

Before she could answer, conflicting calls rung into the darkening sky. "Traitor!" "Welcome back!" "You left us in time of need!" "I'm so glad you're safe!" "I'm hungry!"

The last one came from Shiningkit from the nursery.

Barkstar held up his tail for silence. "Where have you been?" he repeated. He shot a glare at the cats surrounding them, warning them not to say anything.

"It's a long story..." she began.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**:** It took a long time to write this chapter. I got writers block halfway through and a dad yelling at you to go to sleep certainly doesn't help your creativity flow. :P Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! (Please review! I need to know what you think!)


	8. Chapter 7: The Traitor

**Chapter 7: The Traitor**

"It's a long story..." Blackbird began. "But it all started when Redspring died. I was afraid that the clans weren't safe anymore so I ran away with them. After-"

Barkstar cut her off, "So you didn't trust us to protect you and your kits?"

"No!" she wailed. "I was so grief-stricken that I couldn't think right."

The spectators gazed at her with unreadable expressions. The leader nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Anyway, we lived in a cave for a moon until my kits went missing," she took a breath. Her eyes teared up as she recalled what happened. "Then I scented the cat who stole my kits. It was the same as the scent on Redspring and the injured cats. They called themselves the Abyss."

"I smell some of their scent on you," Timberblaze piped up accusingly. Then with a pause added, "Traitor."

She looked at Timberblaze with a pleading look. "Please! I must have picked it up when I tried to take my kits back." Timberblaze sniffed arrogantly.

Meadowleaf coughed meaningfully and shot a glare at Timberblaze. "Back to the story?"

"Oh, yes, right," Blackbird shuffled her paws. "So I went I followed the scent-"

"And then you decided you couldn't face them alone and came here," Rockpelt finished scornfully.

She frowned, "No. I went in and met a cat from the Abyss-"

"And then you ran away like a mouse and came here," Timberblaze interrupted.

Blackbird frowned again, "No. It told me to go away-"

"And then-" Rockpelt broke in once again only to be stopped my Barkstar.

"Please let her talk without interruptions," he commanded.

Blackbird nodded thanks to the leader and continued her story, "Anyway, I didn't go away and asked for my kits. The cat said he couldn't give my kits to me because otherwise they wouldn't have enough kits to sacrifice to the Abyssinian." Swiftshadow stood up and opened his mouth to ask what the Abyssinian was, but she hastily mewed. "The Abyssinian is their cat god or something. Kind of like Starclan, I think." Swiftshadow nodded thanks and sat down.

"I found out later that sacrificing the kits meant throwing them down a huge hole. Kind of like a scratch out of the ground," she recalled what Pearl said. "After I talked to the cat, he was black by the way, I just left their territory. I ran into a ginger loner, Ember, who led me to another loner, Pearl. The Abyss stole Pearl's kits, too. We made up a plan together and put it to action. Apparently I was supposed to go in first to distract the Abyss while Ember trailed me. Once I got deep enough into the territory, Ember went back to Pearl and she went in to get the kits. But our plan went wrong. Pearl left early because she was too anxious about her kits and when Ember went back to find her, she wasn't there and he panicked. When Pearl got to the nursery, they posted a guard in front so Pearl couldn't get in. She tried to sneak around the nursery to see if there was another entrance. That was when she saw the Abyss. She ran back to her den and explained to Ember what happened. I came in during the middle of her story. Then we made another plan. I was going to come here to ask for Thunderclan's help. It's the only way we can possibly get mine and Pearl's kits back!"

After Blackbird finished, Barkstar pondered what the queen had said for several seconds. "So what you are saying is, you left us because we couldn't possibly defeat the Abyss and now you are coming to ask for help because we are the only ones who can defeat them?"

"Yes!" Timberblaze snarled. "Traitor! Don't help her."

Blackbird hung her head. "I'm sorry. I was wrong."

"Obviously, you regret it," Barkstar mewed slowly and Blackbird nodded vigorously. "Senior warriors and Meadowleaf, we will hold a meeting in my den. Meet in there after you get a piece of fresh-kill. I have a feeling that we will have a long night." Barkstar himself did not get anything to eat. Timberblaze shot Blackbird a hostile glare and headed towards the fresh-kill pile followed by Swiftshadow, Meadowleaf, Rushpelt, Wolfwind, and Runningwater.

Blackbird watched the senior warriors nervously. She looked up at the sky. To her surprise it was already night. Her story must have taken longer than she thought. She headed towards the warriors' den uncertainly. Rockpelt hissed from his spot outside the elders' den. "You can't sleep there that's for warriors. _You _are a traitor! You know where prisoners sleep."

Blackbird sighed and turned around towards the medicine cat den. Thunderclan had assigned a prisoner's den after seeing the first signs of rouges in the territory. It was next to the medicine cat den. She saw the fresh-moss and stopped in surprise. She didn't think anyone cared about the prisoner's nest.

"I did it," a voice said.

Blackbird turned around, "Hi Lightningpaw, and thanks."

Lightningpaw dipped his head and walked away. Blackbird laid down happy that at least some cats didn't hate her. Her eyes closed and she fell into a dreamless sleep until she heard paw steps approach her. She lifted her head and saw the medicine cat.

"Hi, Blackbird," Meadowleaf greeted. "Why are you out here?"

Blackbird glanced meaningfully at Rockpelt, still outside the elders' den, then down at the moss underneath her.

Meadowleaf nodded. "It's too cold to be outside. Sleep in my den."

Blackbird smiled, "Thanks, Meadowleaf. I would have freezed to death out here."

"No problem." Meadowleaf flicked her tail to signal the queen to follow her in.

"Why are you here?" Blackbird inquired. "Shouldn't you be in the meeting?"

"I came to stuff some herbs into Barkstar's prey."

"He's sick?"

"Yeah. He has a fever," Meadowleaf answered, sighing. "He needs feverfew. It just happens that I'm running low on it."

"I could go collect it!" Blackbird offered, but the second the words left her mouth she realized how unreasonable in sounded. The other warriors would never let her leave camp until the meeting was over.

Meadowleaf looked at her sadly. She knew that the queen already knew the answer. When she finished stuffing the mouse she picked it up and with a swish of her tail, left the den. Blackbird tucked in her paws and fell asleep again.

The next day Blackbird lifted her head as she felt the warm morning breeze blow into the den. She walked out of the den and found Cloverpaw already at the fresh-kill pile. She padded towards the apprentice. "Hi, Cloverpaw," she mewed.

"Hi... Blackbird..." Cloverpaw muttered between bites of squirrel. "Seniors... still in... meeting."

Blackbird took a second to decipher the fur muffled words. "Really? But it's morning."

"At... it... all night," the apprentice mumbled swallowing another bite.

"Will they be done soon?" Blackbird asked.

"I ... hope... so," he murmured. He swallowed the last bite of squirrel. "Excuse me," he mewed. "I have to go hunt so I can eat more." He padded off leaving her alone.

She reached for a thrush, but a snarl stopped her. "Did you hunt? No!" Rockpelt snapped. "Can you hunt? No! So what can you do? Go hungry!"

Blackbird sighed and stalked back to the medicine den.

An announcement rang out into the clearing. "All cats old enough to hunt their own prey, gather around for the news everyone has been waiting for."

All the cats were already in the clearing so they turned and looked up at him.

Barkstar fixed Blackbird with a steady gaze. "We will..." All the cats held their breaths. "...Not help Blackbird."

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**:** Ended in a cliffhanger... kinda... :D Thanks for reading! Please review! I got no reviews for the past few chapters D:...


	9. Chapter 8: Approaching the Abyss

**Chapter 8 : Approaching the Abyss**

Blackbird gaped at the leader. "What?"

"I said we will not help you," Barkstar mewed regretfully.

Blackbird turned her head at the senior warriors. Timberblaze's eyes shone with triumph, while Wolfwind, Rushpelt, and Runningshadow wouldn't meet her eyes. Swiftshadow looked apologetic and Meadowleaf was on the verge of crying. Blackbird looked away.

"Why will you not help me?" Blackbird whimpered.

"You have been voted as a traitor," the leader explained.

"But the warrior code says that you have to help rescue kits," she begged.

"The warrior code says that we have to rescue _clan_ kits," Rockpelt spat. "And since you left, you are no longer a clan cat and neither are your kits!"

Blackbird shook her head. "That can't be right!"

"Oh, there was no mistake," Timberblaze growled. "Leave, or I will make you."

Her eyes widened and she slowly padded away. 'How am I going to tell Pearl and Ember what happened?' she thought. As she left camp she could hear Swiftshadow, at Timberblaze's complaints, sending a mini patrol to make sure she left. She ran away towards the two loners' den.

Pearl greeted her with hopeful eyes. "Are the clan cats here?" She poked her head outside. "Where are they?"

"They didn't come..." Blackbird sighed. She laid down like she was completely out of energy.

"_What_?" Ember screeched. "I thought you said they would help!"

"I thought they would," she answered. "But apparently I'm a traitor now."

"Traitor?" Ember echoed.

"Because I left," she explained. "I suppose I can't blame them."

"Now what can we do?" Pearl whimpered. "Our kits will die!"

"We just need another plan..." Blackbird mewed thoughtfully.

"But the others didn't work," Ember mumbled. "Why would the next one?"

Blackbird shrugged. "Third times the charm."

Pearl's eyes filled with hope. "What's the plan?" she asked eagerly.

Ember rolled his eyes. It was clear that as long as Blackbird was here, Pearl would not give up hope and to him it was hopeless.

"I was thinking," the black she-cat announced. "if you can't beat them, join them!"

"What?" Ember blurted. He turned to Pearl. "What?" he repeated.

Pearl shrugged, looking worried. "I think she's gone mad," she whispered. "A tom who lived next to my old housefolk went crazy. He started talking about cats in the stars, or something like that."

"I'm not crazy!" Blackbird pouted. "And neither was your neighbor. He's talking about Starclan!"

The loners exchanged doubtful glances. "Told you she went crazy," Pearl hissed.

"I believe it now," Ember muttered into the queen's ear.

Blackbird sighed exasperated. "It's what the clans believe," she explained. "Starclan is a clan that lives in the sky. It's made of our dead ancestors. They sometimes go into our dreams to tell us a prophecy or give us advice."

"Dreaming about dead cats?" Ember mewed out of the side of his mouth. "Now she's just bonkers."

Seeing that she was only convincing them that she actually _was_ crazy, she moved on, ears twitching in annoyance. "Ok, let's just get to the plan," she muttered. "So, I will go into the territory and say that since Thunderclan wouldn't help me so I'd given up all hope. I'll ask them what I need to do to join. I'll do it... if the price isn't too big, then I'll say I found two new followers, you two, that want to join as well. Sound good?"

"I don't think a crazy cat could think of an idea like that," Pearl mewed slowly.

Ember nodded. "Maybe she isn't crazy."

"I'm right here!" Blackbird snapped.

Pearl winced. "Right," she mewed hastily. "And the plan is good. You go, we'll wait here."

Blackbird nodded. "I'll go right now!" she declared as she pushed her way out of the stuffy den. "I'm crazy?" she muttered stomping towards the territory. As she approached it she remembered to be quiet and started being more cautious. She padded in with her head held high to look like she had a reason for being there, which she did of course.

A black head poked out of the darkness. It was the tom from the first time she went into the territory. He looked more curious than hostile, but his neck fur bristled. "Why are you here?" he asked cooly.

She took a deep breath and kept her voice steady. "I want to join. What do I have to do?"

The tom looked Blackbird over doubtfully. "Well, you have to throw one of the kits into the Abyss for the Abyssinian. We only have four right now."

"Four?" she asked, trying unsuccessfully to hide her surprise and horror.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Three of yours and one from a loner. I suppose you will cast the loner's."

She had a sudden burst of relief that her kits were still alive, but was overcome by guilt that she felt that way since Pearl lost one of her kits. "Uh, I have to think about it," she murmured unsurely. She turned away from the tom.

"Meet me here in two day's time?" he suggested, but he said it more like a command than a question.

She nodded and quickly padded away. She met Pearl and Ember on the way back. "Oh, good you're here," Pearl meowed. "You took a long time."

"Yeah," Ember added. "That's why we decided to come look for you."

"Bad news," Blackbird looked like she was about to cry. "To join you have to throw a kit into the Abyss. The only ones are mine and one of yours."

Pearl eyes widened. "_One_ of mine?" she gasped. "That means one is dead!" She dropped her head in defeat. Her paws dragged on the ground as she walked back to the den.

Ember and Blackbird exchanged worried looks and followed her. They found the queen laying down in the den, looking almost dead. "Pearl?" Blackbird mewed quietly. "Are you ok?"

After a pause Pearl mewed, "No, I'll never be ok again." She looked at Blackbird with bloodshot grief stricken eyes.

"I can imagine how it would feel like to lose a kit," Blackbird comforted sympathetically.

"I can't go through with the plan," Pearl whispered. "I don't want to lose another kit and I can't ask you to suffer what I am suffering."

"There's still a way, you know," Blackbird blurted out suddenly.

Pearl snapped to attention immediately. "How?"

Blackbird too a deep breath. "Before I tell you my idea, I must warn you that it-"

"What?" Pearl interrupted her impatiently. "Must warn me of _what_?"

"I must warn you that my idea is not a good idea, but the only," she shuffled her paws nervously.

"Just hurry up already," Ember moaned. "You prepared us so tell us your idea."

Blackbird clenched her jaw visibly and sighed. "We have to steal kits."

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**: **I feel so guilty! D: I'm sorry I took so long to post this chapter. Please read and review!


	10. Chapter 9: Revenge

**Chapter 9: Revenge**

"Of course!" Pearl cheered. "We have to go straight in and steal the kits back."

Ember looked at Blackbird with disbelief in his eyes. "I don't think that's what she means."

Horror replaced Pearl's smile as realization dawned on her. "What?" she whimpered as her mind desperately grasped for an alternative to the truth. "Steal another queen's kits? I can't do that."

"We have to," Blackbird mewed forcefully. "It's the only way to get our kits back. The only way we won't have to throw them into the Abyss."

"I know," she whispered.

"Look at me," Blackbird ordered. "Right in the eyes." The loner hesitated before raising her head. "Will you do it? I need the truth."

"I will" was Pearl's simple answer.

"Good." A ghost of a smile appeared on Blackbird's face. "I think I know where to get some."

"Where?" Pearl asked half curiously and half doubtfully.

"The clans, of course!" A crazed look entered Blackbird's eyes.

Pearl actually took a step back from shock. "The clans?" she echoed.

"Where else can we find three kits?" Blackbird shot back.

"Who said anything about _three_ kits?" Ember growled.

"You mean..." Pearl trailed off mid-sentence.

"I'm not going," Ember confirmed. "You two have to go, but I don't and I'm not wasting a perfectly good kit that doesn't need to be wasted."

"Fine," Blackbird shrugged. "They're only two kits in Thunderclan anyway."

"You're stealing kits from your own clan?"

"They aren't my clan anymore," Blackbird snarled. "They cast me out!"

"Isn't there a rule in the warrior code that says you can't hurt kits or something?" the loner desperately suggested.

"Apparently I'm not a warrior anymore so I'm not bound by the warrior code," she spat. "Thunderclan said it themselves."

"You don't mean that," Pearl gasped. "Maybe in your mind, but never in your heart!"

"If you believe that, you're as weak as the clans," the black she-cat sniffed.

"You won't," Pearl warned her, sounding more confident than she felt.

"Watch me." With her final word she turned and stormed out of the den.

Pear looked at Ember with a shocked look, but the tom turned away. "You know the reason I'm not going isn't that I don't want to kill a kit?" he murmured.

He heard a sharp intake of air before continuing. "It's because I was afraid that Blackbird wasn't going to join the Abyss only to save her kits, but to get revenge on the clans. Including Thunderclan... Isn't it obvious?"

"No!" Pearl snarled, backing away slowly. "You're wrong!"

"You know you're-" Ember complained.

"_Wrong, wrong, wrong!" _Pearl screeched before racing into the night after Blackbird.

The ginger cat watched her disappear before finishing softly. "Just fighting the inevitable..."

He curled up in his den and pushed his muzzle into the bedding. "One second you're arguing with her and the next you're defending her," he whispered into the moss. "She-cats..."

Blackbird whipped her head around as she heard approaching pawsteps. She saw Pearl's white pelt and hissed loudly. "Decided to come join me?" she snarled.

"Actually yes" came the determined meow.

"Good." Blackbird turned and headed towards the clans.

"Wait!" Pearl puffed as she dragged her weary paws towards the other queen.

Blackbird paused until they were side by side before continuing to move. They walked awkwardly in silence. "Uh... Good thing the Abyss is closer to the clans than where I brought my kits, otherwise I'd still be moons away from my clan," Blackbird joked half-heartedly, trying to break the ice.

"Yeah," the white queen mewed softly.

They continued with the leaves rustling over head and the long grass soft underneath their paws. "There it is," Blackbird growled, hostility back in her eyes.

Pearl glanced around nervously as the Thunderclan scent grew stronger.

"We have to be quiet now," Blackbird warned. "We've crossed the scent line."

"As if we were talkative before anyway," Pearl pointed out.

Blackbird half expected to hear Lightningpaw's laughter or Swiftshadow leading a patrol. They reached the camp without any sign of life, besides the occasional call of a bird or the rustling of a mouse. "There's the nursery," Blackbird whispered. They stalked towards i, but hesitated as they heard a rumbling sound coming from the opposite direction. They headed back towards the nursery once Blackbird identified it as Rockpelt's snoring.

To Blackbird's surprise, they found Sandfur next to Rosepool inside plump with kits. Blackbird flicked her tail towards two bundles of fur. Pearl grabbed Sweetkit and Blackbird picked up Shiningkit. The two cats backed up carefully until they were outside. They dashed out as fast as their paws could carry them and soon were out of clan territory. Pearl kept glancing back fearing that at any second the queens' panicking calls would wake up the warriors.

Once they were a safe distance away Blackbird laid down Shiningkit and yowled into the rising sun. "Yes!"

Pearl looked up startled and almost dropped Sweetkit. "Huh?" she yelped, but through the kit's thick fur it was muffled and almost incoherent.

"Sorry," the black queen apologized. "It's just that I'm so close to saving my kits."

Pearl turned away as Ember's words echoed in her mind. _Blackbird wasn't going to join the Abyss only to save her kits, but to get revenge on the clans. Including Thunderclan..._ 'Would she really betray her clan? Could I have been wrong about her?' she thought. She shook her head to clear her dark thoughts.

"Come on," Blackbird nudged Pearl gently. "We have to get back to tell Ember."

"What?" Pearl blurted out. "No! Let's go straight to the meeting place."

"Why?" the she-cat narrowed her eyes.

"Uh..." Pearl muttered.

"Well?"

"Uh..." she repeated.

"Yeah?"

"Ember doesn't want any part in killing the kits!" she lied.

Blackbird narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Ok," she said slowly. "You do realize we have to sleep there, right?"

Pearl didn't answer, but gave a weak smile, raised Sweetkit up, and hurried away. Shiningkit woke up and let out a cry. "Shush, little one," Blackbird murmured. She put Shiningkit on her back before following and sighed. They didn't talk for most of the short journey except for warning each other about potholes or comments on the weather.

The white cat sniffed the air worriedly. "Is that the Abyss' scent?" Sweetkit let out a little whimper and shivered.

Blackbird nodded then flicked her tail. "The place we're supposed to meet is that way." She quickened her pace until she was in front of Pearl and lead the way. Pearl dipped her head and followed obediently. As they passed into the Abyss' territory Pearl lagged behind. "What's wrong?" Blackbird called over her shoulder.

"Nothing!" Pearl put down the kit to answer. "I just stepped on a stone."

Blackbird continued walking, feeling Shiningkit's tiny claws digging into her back. She heard heavy breathing and turned around. "Come on Pearl," she moaned. "It's getting dark!"

"I'm here!" Pearl ran towards the other queen. "I'm here!" she repeated.

"Good."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we close?"

"Yes."

Pearl stopped trying to make conversation and stayed silent.

"_Now_ we're here," Blackbird announced. They emerged into the little clearing she had been in the day before. They laid down the kits next to each other.

"Ok," the white cat cocked her head. "Now what do we do?"

"Sleep," Blackbird answered.

"How? The kits might run off?"

"We'll curl around them on both sides," she ordered. "You lay down over there." Pearl obeyed and curled around the two kits while Blackbird covered the other side. The tired cats drifted to sleep immediately.

Blackbird stirred as she felt a paw prod her side. "Pearl?" she muttered sleepily.

A deep voice answered. "No."

She sat up immediately like she was splashed with cold water. "Pearl! Wake up."

The white queen groggily sat up as well, after checking that the kits were still there.

"Whose this?" the tom growled.

"Pearl," Blackbird explained. "She wants to join too."

"Not possible," he declared.

"Why?" Pearl complained.

"Only black cats can join."

"You didn't tell that to me!" Blackbird mewed angrily.

"You didn't tell me another cat wanted to join," the tom shot back.

"Don't fight," Pearl desperately urged them. "It's ok. I don't have to join."

"Fine," the two black cats mewed in unison. They glared at each other while Pearl fought the urge to laugh.

The tom flicked his tail at Blackbird and mewed. "By the way, the name is Raven."

* * *

**_Author's Note_: **Yaaaaay! Another favorite! And another _10_ reveiws :) Thanks Howlsong13 :D / I thought the chapter was getting kind of long and boring so I just cut it off somewhere random XD Please read and review!


	11. Chapter 10: Meeting The Doyen

**Chapter 10: Meeting The Doyen**

Blackbird at Pearl with a worried look in her eyes. "You be safe, ok?"

Pearl nodded. "But what do I do with the kit?"

"Return it if you need to."

"We'll take her to camp."

Blackbird and Raven spoke at the exact same time with their contradicting answers. They glared at each other. "Fine!" Blackbird spat. "Have it your way." Raven shot her a smug grin, grabbed Sweetkit, and started padding towards camp all in one motion. Blackbird took Shiningkit and padded up to his side.

"How far is camp?" she inquired.

"Much deeper."

"What's the news?"

"We have a new cat joining."

"Who?" Her ears pricked with alarm.

"You."

"Oh."

She gave up trying to start a conversation and padded along silently. As she began taking notice of her surroundings, she realized the forest was much darker than when they left Pearl. So dark she almost couldn't see. She began to understand why only black cats were allowed to join. White cats would stick out like a fox at a gathering.

"We're here," Raven announced and pulled ahead. Blackbird followed silently drinking in the sight of the camp. It was mostly flat except for a slope up on one side. There was one den at the highest point of the slope and one built in at the side. Two dens lined the other side of the camp. She guessed the highest den was the leader's, the one on the side was the medicine cat's, and the two dens were the kits' and warriors'. But where were the elders?

Raven flicked his tail and led the way up the slope. "This is the Doyen's den. Or the... leader's den." He spoke the word 'leader' as if it was foreign to him.

Blackbird nodded. She was right about the leader's- or Doyen's- den.

"So where are the elders?" she asked trying to sound nonchalant.

"Elders?" the tom echoed.

"Yeah, you know," she chuckled nervously,"The retired warriors?"

"Warriors?" he repeated in the same clueless voice.

"The ones who hunt and defend the clan? Or whatever the Abyss is."

"Oh!" Understanding filled Raven's eyes. "The feeders and fighters."

"Yeah! The elders are retired feeders and fighters."

"You mean the prophets?"

"It was Blackbird's turn to be confused. "What are prophets?"

Raven stopped walking and turned around to face her before answering. "I think an easier question to answer is 'How do you become a prophet?'"

There was a moment of silence as Raven gazed expectantly at the she cat. She mouther 'oh' silently then mewed. "Well, how _do_ you become a prophet?"

Raven smiled then nodded. "There are always three prophets, no more, no less. When a prophet dies, the Abyssinian tells the two prophets who the third prophet will be."

"What do the prophets do?"

"They decide what kit to throw in, when to throw the kit in, that kind of stuff. They also interpret messages from the Abyssinian."

"Like a medicine cat!"

"No," Raven shook his head. "The healer master just takes care of sick cats and the wanderers."

"The wanderers?" she echoed.

"Yeah, like me," he explained. "I'll tell you more later after you talk with the Doyen."

"Oh, right! I forgot about that..." The two cats ran up to the top of the hill and stopped. There was a beam of light from the sky shining on the top of the den. "So I just go in?" she panted.

Raven, who wasn't out of breath at all, nodded. "Just walk in."

She obeyed. "Hello?"

A cat turned around to face her. "Blackbird is it?" He had a slight countryside accent.

She nodded as she squinted, trying to see through the darkness.

"Right," the cat muttered, sounding annoyed. "You don't have you shadow eyes yet."

Blackbird bit back a rude retort while the Doyen flicked his tail and ordered, "Remove the leaves!"

After several moments they heard the patter of paws and the rustling of leaves. A few rays of sunlight- or moonlight, she could not determine which - lit up the den. The Doyen hissed as light hit his pelt and he backed away. When all the leaves were cleared away, Blackbird could see the Doyen clearly. She stifled a purr. He looked like a kittypet, and not the kind that were fighters, the fluff, fat, pampered ones.

"What?" the Doyen snapped.

She coughed and looked away. "Nothing," she assured him quickly.

She shuffled her paws awkwardly. "So... What's your name?" She heard shocked hisses from above and saw the Doyen unsheathe his claws, take a deep breath, and sheathed them again.

"She is new. SHe would not know!" he yowled to the cats on the roof. "Leave!"

"Me?" Blackbird yelped. "No, them," the Doyen answered, flicking his tail up.

"Why were they shocked?" She asked worriedly. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Did you!" he huffed. "By asking my name you basically just threatened my life."

"What?" she gaped.

"You see, to become Doyen, you need to learn the current Doyen's name," he explained snottily. "Once you know the Doyen's name, the Doyen will have to give up his place. Only the prophets know my Doyen name so they will be able to confirm the next Doyen's place. Once the old Doyen gives up his or her place, they will have to sacrifice themselves to the Doyen by jumping into the Abyss. Get it?"

She nodded speechlessly. "Ok, good," he purred. "You are dismissed." As she walked out she heard a voice holler to the cats on the roof, "Put back the leaves!"

Blackbird looked up at the roof to see two black she-cats pushing leaves back onto the stick roofing.

"How'd it go?" It was Raven.

"Not very well," she sighed, turning towards Raven. "I asked him his name..." When he didn't react she gave him a questioning look.

"Every new cat does that," he muttered shortly.

"But the two cats on the roof gasped and Doyen almost clawed my pelt off!"

"The Doyen is a drama king and his two daughters take after him."

"A thought just occurred to me, Raven..."

"Hm?"

"Since everybody knows my name and you name, we can't become Doyen anymore?"

"We still can," he chuckled. "You make up your Doyen name."

"So my Doyen name could be Squirrel, Shadow, or even Fluff?"

"Well... Yeah."

They began walking down the hill as an apprentice-aged cat ran into camp panting. He had a panicked look in his eyes. "F-f-f-fox!"

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**:** Thanks for reading! I hope you like it... I know it has been three weeks since I updated. I would normally promise to update quicker, but with school approaching, I can't promise anything, but please keep a lookout for future chapters because no matter what, I'm not giving up on this. Well, anyways, thanks for reading and please review! I'm serious! _Review!_


	12. Chapter 11: Fox Fight

_**Hello everyone! I still need some cats for the Abyss please! There is no strict form in which you must put it in, but please **_**_include the cat's name, gender, what they look like (eye color), what position (kit, carrier, caretaker, feeder trainee, fighter trainee, feeder, or fighter), and a bit of personality (mellow, fierce, friendly, hostile, etc). Thanks to all! :D_**

**Chapter 11: Fox Fight**

Raven ran down to the young tom. "Fox? Where?" When the cat didn't answer, Raven murmured. "Coal, answer me! Where is the fox?"

"That way," Coal answered shakily. He flicked his tail in the direction he had come. "Where are the fighters?"

"All on patrol," Raven winced.

"The feeders?"

"Hunting."

"Whose left?"

"Me, Blackbird, the Doyen, his two daughters, the herbal master, the kits, and their caretakers."

"Who'll fight?"

Raven glanced at the Doyen's den, then at the nursery. "Just me and Blackbird."

"And me," Coal added.

"No," Raven ordered. "Go see the herbal master."

With a grunt, the tom dragged himself up the hill. "I bent down branches so you could find the way there," he called back.

"Good thinking," Raven praised.

Blackbird nudged the wanderer. "Come on." She ran towards the first bent branch and sniffed out Coal's scent. "This way." She ran ahead glancing around, changing her direction once in a while to follow the bent branch trail. She quickened her pace as the scent of fox got stronger. "It's here!"

The fox leapt out of a clump of bushes with a snarl. It pounced on Blackbird. She rolled out of the way, but the fox snagged her tail in its teeth at the last second. She gasped in pain and clawed at the fox's muzzle. The fox whimpered and backed away, but didn't let go of her tail. She was dragged backwards as Raven jumped on the fox's back. "Let go of her!" he snarled.

The fox yelped and Blackbird yanked her tail away. Raven was hurled off as the fox thrusted its body up. "Raven!" she gasped. She ignored the pain as she raced to confront the fox. It whipped around with its jaws wide open. She pushed off the ground, landed on the fox's head, and scrabbled onto its back. The fox tried to do the same thing with Raven, but she was ready and held on. She sank her claws in and bit its ear. The fox yanked its head, but howled in pain as the tip of its ear ripped in Blackbird's teeth. The vile taste of fox blood filled her mouth as she spat out the blood.

The fox rolled over crushing her and Blackbird tried pushing it off, but it was too heavy. The fox leapt onto his paws with a growl. It was Raven! The fox now had a gash on its flank. Raven stalked over to Blackbird until they were next to each other with a fox-length in between them as the fox's eyes were blinded by blood. The fox growled at Raven and stalked towards him. Raven braced himself for another fight, but the fox changed direction and hurled itself at Blackbird with its claws out and teeth bared. Raven leapt in between the two and collapsed as the fox sank its teeth into his flank.

"No!" Blackbird screeched as she launched herself at the fox in anger. She clawed its eyes until the fox whimpered. The fox lashed out with a paw, but Blackbird sidestepped and caught the paw in her mouth. She bit down as hard as she could and shook her head side to side. The fox yowled from pain and struck her with its other paw. She took a step back from shock and the fox yanked its injured paw away and limped quickly out of the small clearing.

Blackbird stood there breathing heavily with eyes wide from shock and fear. She shook her head and ran over to Raven. "Raven! Why did you do it?" she cried. "I was new and I thought you didn't like me, but you sacrificed yourself for me. _Why_?"

Raven opened his eyes and blinked at her slowly. "Because..." he explained, gasping for air, but he passed out before he could answer.

Blackbird shook his gently, but when he didn't respond she grasped him by the scruff and tried dragging him, but he didn't move. A voice called from a distance, "Raven! Blackbird!"

"Here!"

Coal ran into the clearing panting. "Raven!" he wheezed.

"Help me carry him back," she ordered quietly. On the way to camp, she told him about the fight with the fox and how he saved her.

"Wow!" he gasped. "Raven _saved_ you? He's the meanest wanderer! He _never_ saves anyone. 'You can only trust yourself and your own blood' he would always say."

"Really? Strange..." They reached the herbal master's den.

"Ebony?" Coal called.

"Coal? Back already?" she sighed. "Let me guess. You're injured. Again."

"Nope," he huffed. "Its Raven this time."

"Raven?" Ebony mewed. "Well come on in then."

They laid Raven down on a moss and grass nest. He groaned, but didn't open his eyes. Blackbird sighed and settle down next to him and fell asleep.

_She opened her eyes and saw her mother's black fur surrounding her. "I'm going outside!" she __squeaked happily. She poked the four other kits sleeping next to her. "Come on! Let's go outside!"_

_Two of the kits got up, one blinked drowsily, but stayed lying down, and the last didn't even respond. The three awake kits prodded the slightly awake one until she staggered up and followed them out the den. Blackkit gathered a mossball and batted it at Wolfkit who pushed it towards Rosekit. "Over here!" Rushkit cried. _

_Rosekit flung it over Rushkit by accident and Blackkit cried, "I'll get it!" She grabbed the __mossball in her mouth and bounced towards the rest of the kits, but her claw snagged a loose piece of moss, which pulled it out, loosening the mossball which spread into separate bundles of moss. "Oops!" she muttered, face feeling hot. She took a step towards the loose moss only to step on more moss and she slipped. She slid on the bigger bundles of moss into the warrior's den and right into a sleeping Rockpelt. _

_Rockpelt sat up cursing. "_Again, _Blackkit? This is the fifth time this moon! And not to mention last moon!" he roared._

_"S-sorry, Rockpelt," she whimpered, gathering the moss and backing out of the den. She formed the moss back into a ball half heartedly as she heard Rockpelt muttering behind her. "You guys keep playing," she told the other kits. "I just want to watch."_

_She looked around camp and saw two yellow eyes watching her from the nursery..._

She felt a paw prod her and she jerked awake. Raven looked at her with a concerned look in his eyes. "You were whimpering in your sleep."

"It's nothing..." Blackbird answered. "Now tell me why you saved me." Blackbird already knew what he was going to say, but she needed to hear him say it.

Raven sighed. "You're my sister."

* * *

_**Author's**_**_ Note_: **DUN DUN DUN! Who guessed it? No one? Ok. As you can see, I managed to squeeze another chapter in. Yay! Another follower/favoriter :D Shaystorm! Thank you! I can't believe that I already have more than 400 views! Way more than what I thought I would have :) Please read and review! Thanks to anyone who is reading my story! :D


	13. Chapter 12: The Falling Has Fallen

_**Author's Note: Yup! I still need more Abyss cats... Please **_**_include cat name, gender, what they look like, if they are a _****_kit, carrier, caretaker, feeder trainee, fighter trainee, feeder, or fighter,_** and their personality. :D Thanks for your contribution! OMG! Five follows and favorites! Yaaaay! Just because of that I'm going to do a SUPER long chapter :).

**Chapter 12: The Falling Has Fallen**

Blackbird nodded slowly. "I thought so..."

"Really?" Raven mewed sounding surprised. "If you figured that out then perhaps we are littermates after all."

"Why do you say that like you are not sure?"

"Because I'm not," he muttered. "You see, since I met you I've been having dreams. Dreams of the past in the clans. I remember it all now... All but how we were separated. Do you remember how?"

"No," she admitted. "I don't, but I know somebody who might."

"Who?"

"Fallingwind, my foster mother," she purred, smiling from the memories of when she was a kit.

"We should go see her after you cast the kit."

Blackbird's face fell, "Right. That."

"Let's go." Raven groaned as he stood up and straightened his stiff muscles. He limped out followed by his sister.

The Doyen met them outside. "It's morning so it's time to cast the kits!"

"How do you know it's- you know what? I don't even want to know," Blackbird muttered.

"Where do I go?"

"Follow me," the Doyen ordered. "Conin! Get the kit."

The she-cat flicked her white tail-tip padded to the nursery.

"She'll meet us there," he murmured. "Raven, go ahead, I need to give her briefing."

Raven nodded and limped towards the huge gash in the ground.

"What position do you want to be?"

After a second of thought she answered steadily, "Wanderer."

"Wanderer, hm? You do realize you'll have to throw _two_ kits in for such a high ranking position? _And_ you'll have to mark them with your personal symbol."

Blackbird's gaze darkened as her lust for revenge acted up again. "It will be my pleasure," she hissed.

The Doyen chuckled. "Good," he approved. "So just answer my questions when I ask you them during the ceremony, they won't be hard."

"Ok, let's go then," she muttered impatiently.

"Wait," he ordered. "Conin, get both the kits!"

He waited until they heard a confirming yowl from the kit den and nodded, leading the way towards the huge hole in the ground. Blackbird followed glancing around nervously.

When they reached the pit, the Doyen turned around to look at Blackbird. She stifled a purr as his chubby belly fat bounced.

"Blackbird, do you swear to respect the Abyssinian and no other god?"

_Starclan forgive me! _"I do."

"Do you swear to remain loyal to me?"

"I do."

"Very well then," he paused, "What position would you like?"

"I would like to be a wanderer." All the cats gasped except for the Doyen and Raven, who smiled proudly.

"Then mark the two kits with your symbol." With a flick of his tail, he summoned another black tom forward who was holding the two kits. He laid them on the ground and backed up into the crowd.

She thought for a moment before scratching a deep picture of a bird into each of their foreheads.

"Now you may cast them," he murmured with a tone gave the impression that she was privileged to be able to send two kits to their deaths.

Blackbird took a deep breath and realized she was shaking. She forced her twitching tail still and took the kits by the scruff. She edged closer, but as she gazed into the endless pit of death she felt a twinge of fear. '_Could I really do this?' _she thought. _'Could I really kill two kits from my clan?' _She turned to look at the Doyen who nodded encouragingly, then at Raven who nodded as well.

Then a screech was heard from the back of the crowd. "Fox!" It was Coal.

Blackbird gasped and she dropped the kits onto the ground. The two kits teetered dangerously on the edge of the abyss then scrabble back onto solid ground. Blackbird looked at Raven who nodded confirmation. Just as she thought. It was the fox from before.

The fox ran into the clearing, but before any cat could react, it leapt at Blackbird. She opened her eyes wide with fear as she stared at the fox's gleaming teeth coming closer and closer by the second.

She heard a cat growl and turned to see the Doyen leap at her, bowling her away from the fox. The fox landed on the edge next to the kits. It tried to get a paw-hold and kept staggering around. Then it placed a paw on Sweetkit who rolled over trying to get the weight off of her and the fox lost its balance again and leaned on its hind paws towards the abyss. With one last desperate grab to life, it snagged the two kits on its claws and took them down with it.

Blackbird couldn't hold in a gasp of horror as all three fell into the darkness. The Doyen stood up and brushed himself off without blinking. "It was destiny!" he announced. "The Abyssinian approves. Not only did she cast the kit, but she also cast a _fox_!"

The members of the Abyssinian cheered. Raven padded forward to congratulate her. "Good job, sister," he whispered.

"Thanks," she mewed quietly, still stunned by what she had just seen.

They both turned their attention back to the Doyen as he began to speak. "Now we need to assign her a mentor so that she may learn the ways of a wanderer. Raven?"

He nodded. "I accept." He flashed a small smile at his sister before reciting a small speech. "I, Raven of the Abyss, swear to you, the Abyssinian, that I will teach this trainee your ways and that she will recruit cats just as I have recruited her."

All the cats waited for an answer from the pit, but of course none came. "Let us go," Raven murmured to Blackbird. He padded out of camp meeting Marionette's and Zacharia's gazes of congratulations. 'Thank you,' he mouthed to the two who nodded emotionlessly.

When they got far enough out of camp, Raven turned to Blackbird abruptly. "Where is she?"

"Who?"

"Your... Foster mother."

"Oh! Fallingwing."

"Yes, where is she?" he repeated.

"Follow me," she ordered. She ran towards clan territory and Raven shrugged, then followed.

They traveled for several hours, occasionally taking breaks to rest and eat. "We're almost there," Blackbird informed the other tom who nodded.

"Ok, how much longer?"

"Not much. We can walk the rest of the way."

Raven didn't answer, but slowed down his pace. They padded side by side with little conversation, until Blackbird yowled "There!" and ran ahead out of view. Raven followed once again with an annoyed hiss.

He found her standing next to the scent line, right outside of Thunderclan territory. She looked up at him with excitement and took a step forward. Then another and another. Raven winced as he was engulfed by the foreign scent, but caught up to Blackbird anyway. They stalked through the territory quickly, but silently until they were outside of camp. Fallenwing was outside of the elder's den with no one around so Blackbird hissed. "Fallingwing!"

The elder raised her head sleepily. "Who is it?"

"Me, Blackbird."

"Oh!" She stood up abruptly, earning a strange stare from Meadowleaf.

The medicine cat padded towards Fallingwind. "You have greencough! You have to lay down and rest."

"I think some fresh air outside of camp will do me better," the elder retorted.

Meadowleaf sighed. "Fine, but this is the last time."

"I only went out once before," she complained. "But fine."

Meadowleaf nodded, then went back to sorting her herbs. Fallingwing checked to make sure she wasn't paying attention anymore then slipped behind her den. "Blackbird? What are you doing here?"

Blackbird ignored her question. "Is it true? Do I have a brother?"

"What? How did you-?" She erupted in a coughing fit. She looked panicked for a moment, then sighed. "Yes, you do. He died when you were still really little. How did you know?"

"Because he's alive. Raven come here."

The black tom padded forward. "Hello," he dipped his head. "My name is Raven and was Ravenkit."

The elder stared at him. "What happened? Why did you leave? I always assumed a fox or badger got you."

Raven's gaze darkened. "I don't know. That's why we came. We hoped you knew."

"i don't... I'm sorry."

"That's ok, mother," Blackbird comforted her. She laid a tail on Fallingwing's back.

The elder's gazed hardened and she shrugged off her tail. "I saw you steal the kits."

It was Blackbird's turn to look surprised. "What? How?"

"Do you think I could sleep with Rockpelt snoring as loud as he did?"

"Good point," Blackbird admitted.

"But why?"

Blackbird took a deep breath. "To tell you that, I have to tell you the whole story." And she did, from beginning to end.

Fallingwing narrowed her eyes. "You killed the kits?"

"Yes..." she mewed.

"Although it is ironic," she huffed. "You carved a bird as your symbol?"

"Yeah, how is it ironic?"

"I guess I should tell you two a legend before I die."

"You won't die!"

Fallingwing shook her head sadly then began talking as if she was in a trance. "You decedents always had a bird as part of their name. It all started with _Crow_feather and Leafpool. Then they had kits named _Jay_feather, Hollyleaf, and Lionblaze. Then Lionblaze had kits named _Stork_wing, _Quailpaw_, and Poucetail. Quailpaw died as an apprentice and Storkwing never took a mate. Pouncetail on the other had had one kit. She found it funny that she was the only one out of her siblings to not have a bird name so she named her kit Starlingkit, who eventually became Starlingclaw. He had kits named Hawkflight and Crowcall. It goes on and on with Sparrowdive, and Owleye, then Vultureswoop. None of them were very significant until Finchfur and Eagleclaw. Eagleclaw always teased his sister about how eagles ate finches so she got mad. Eagleclaw died in a battle against Riverclan, but Finchfur had one kit. Saying that she thought the family bird thing was stupid, she cut tradition and named her son Wolfkit as wolves would sometimes eat eagles. But my ancestor told Wolfroar to name his kits after birds, so he named them Pigeonkit and Goosekit. Your mother's name was Robinstreak. Each name was recorded by my family and now it comes to me."

Blackbird's jaw dropped in awe. "Wow... I always assumed my mother just liked birds!"

Fallingwing smiled. "She did like the taste of them."

"Does Barkstar know?" the black queen mewed.

"Yes, that's why he named you Blackbird."

"So your family kept track of all the bird's in my family?" Raven asked.

"Yes."

"But I broke tradition and named my kits not bird names..."

"But your brother could still have kits."

"How did you know? Conin and I-" Raven stammered.

"You guys are a couple? How come I didn't know?!" Blackbird sniffed.

"Well, we were planning on having kits, but we wanted to wait until she finished training Ribbon."

Fallenwing broke out in a series of coughs and sputters. "You'll name them after birds right?" she wheezed.

"Yes, I'll tell her to name them Cardinal, Dove, or Lark if there are she-cats and Mallard, Thrush, or Gull if they are toms."

"Then my work is done," the elderly she-cat murmured peacefully before collapsing.

"No! Fallenwing!" Blackbird cried. Raven watched speechlessly. Blackbird shook her head with despair and pushed the dead elder until she was in front of the elder's den. She blinked one last time at her before stepping back into the shadows. "Goodbye..."

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**:** Whoo hoo! That was twice as much as I normally write :D. Now my hands hurt. Oh, well. Thanks to you all! Please review :).


	14. Chapter 13: A Thousand Welcomes

_**Ok, I don't need any more cats! Thanks to everyone :) I set up a poll to see what you guys think my next story should be. No, I'm not going to stop writing this one. I won't start the next story until this one is over.**_

_**Chapter 13: A Thousand Welcomes**_

Blackbird sadly padded away with Raven following her. She turned as she heard Meadowleaf cry out, "Fallenwing!" She sighed and kept on walking, but she heard Meadowleaf growl. "Rogue."

She gasped and quickened her pace to a run. "Raven! She smelled us!" She glanced over her shoulder at Raven and bumped into ginger fur.

"So did we," a voice growled. "Blackbird."

Blackbird's eyes widened more, if that was possible. "Timberblaze," she breathed.

"Ding! Right on the first try," he sneered as cats emerged from the bushes. Dovesplash... Cloverpaw... Runningwater... All growling with their neck fur bristling. "We told you to never come back."

"No... Please, you don't understand," she begged.

"What I don't understand is why you came back," Dovesplash snarled, but a hint of doubt showed in her eyes.

"And why you brought _him_ with you," Runningwater added, flicking his tail at Raven.

"Cloverpaw?" she mewed hopefully.

"It's Cloverleaf now," he sniffed.

Blackbird's tail drooped and she suddenly looked ten moons older. She looked back at Raven... who wasn't there. "Raven?"

"What?" Cloverleaf asked.

"The other-" she was cut off by a screech as a black streak landed on Timberblaze. "Raven?" she repeated.

"Raven," the tom confirmed with a grin.

She smiled and ran towards Dovesplash. She lashed out with her right paw, but stopped midway. '_I can't do it,' _she admitted to herself. _'I can't attack a __clanmate."_ She was ripped from her reverie as she was whacked on the side of her head by Dovesplash. She took a sharp intake through her nose and back off. "Go!" Raven hissed. "You don't have to fight your clanmates! I'll get away!"

"We _aren't _your clanmates," Timberblaze roared as he hurled Raven off of him. The black tom leapt to his paws and hopped out of the way as Timberblaze swiped at him.

Raven swept his paw underneath Timberblaze unbalancing him and tackled him to the ground. He pinned the ginger tom down only to be flung off by Cloverleaf. Blackbird gasped, but stood frozen with shock. "Blackbird, go!" the wanderer yowled.

Blackbird blinked at her brother and got a determined glint in her eyes. "No," she mewed simply.

"What?" Timberblaze's voice was deathly quiet.

"I said no, as in no, I will _not_ go and leave my brother alone!" her voice got louder at each word.

"B-brother?" Timberblaze yelped. "Your brother died!"

"No he didn't," she answered forcefully. "He is alive and he is by my side. We will never be separated even if death comes. You will have to kill both of us if you want to kill either of us."

Dovesplash and Cloverleaf watched in stunned silence as a grin crept up Timberblaze's face. "Gladly," he mused.

Blackbird laughed humorlessly. "Too late." She beckoned towards where Raven was.

"H-he's gone!" Cloverleaf whimpered. "What happened."

As the three Thunderclan cats stared at the spot where Raven was, Blackbird took advantage of their distraction and slipped into the shadows.

She heard a quiet chuckle and then a whisper, "We may make a wanderer out of you yet."

"Come on, quickly," she urged. "They'll send out a patrol."

They raced out of the territory with constant glances over their shoulders. "We're clear," Raven smiled. He _still _wasn't out of breath. Blackbird on the other paw, breathed heavily.

"How are you not tired?" Blackbird complained.

Raven shrugged. "Training," he mewed vaguely. She rolled her eyes and started towards the Abyss.

"Are they used to having you away for so long?"

"The Abyss?" She nodded. "Well, I am a wanderer... so, I guess."

They talked all the way back to the Abyss about all types of things; their past, Conin and Raven's future kits, the clans, and especially about being a wanderer. Raven was supposed to train his sister after all.

They were greeted by Conin when they reached camp. Raven and Conin touched noses and padded away together leaving Blackbird alone.

She decided to explore the camp now that she could see in the darkness or the "shadow eyes" as the Abyss calls it. She poked her head into the fighter den and her nose was almost scratched off by Armageddon.

"You're not a fighter," he hissed. "Get out."

She gulped, dipped her head, and stepped out. She decided not to check out the feeder's den out of fear of the same welcome. She looked around again and she saw the last den on the lower part of camp. _'My den!'_ she recognized. _'Or rather the trainee den.'_ She headed towards the Trainee den.

She saw Coal inside and mewed a greeting. "Blackbird?" he blinked. "What are you doing here? The wanderer trainees sleep in the Wanderer's den."

"Where's that?" she asked as she turned to look out the den.

Coal chuckled and flicked his ears. "Follow me," he purred as he swept passed her and towards the rise of the land. "You came in from there," he pointed to the entrance. "But you never went over there." He beckoned towards the far side of the hill that would have been covered from sight had she been standing at the entrance. In fact, the only spot that you could have spotted it from clearly was the Medicine cat's den.

The twosome padded inside careful not to disturb a sleeping Marionette. Cola dipped his head and muttered "Sweet dreams" as she settled down in an empty nest. Her dreams were anything, but sweet...

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**:** I apologize... This chapter was a bit shorter than all the others. If any of you are wondering the chapter title is indicating the welcome from Blackbird's former clanmates (a battle), the scene in the fighter's den, the trainee's den, and the wanderer's den. I'm really sorry for not updating, my excuses:

-I was already assigned four projects.

-I was on vacation for the three day weekend.

-Lots of homework.

-I'm lazy.

Well, thanks for dealing with my extremely late updates.

Ok, random fact! Timberblaze was supposed to be Rosepool's mate, but I messed up and didn't want to read through all of my chapters to delete Runningwater's name everytime he was mentioned with Rosepool...


	15. Chapter 14: Too Many Things Wrong

_**I set up a poll so please help me pick what to write next. I promise your choice will influence my decision...**_

_**Chapter **__**14: Too Many Things Wrong**_

Blackbird rolled over as she drifted off to sleep. _She was standing in the middle of a clearing alone-no, there was another cat in front of her. She backed off as she recognized the cat. "Fallenwing?" she choked. "What are you doing here?"_

_"Traitor!" Fallenwing cried. "Traitor!"_

_"What?" the queen choked._

_"You are a traitor!" she spat. "You say that you want to save your kits, but you could have escaped with them a long time ago."_

_"B-but," Blackbird stuttered._

_"But nothing! They are the enemy, you know it, so what are you doing among their ranks?"_

_"I don't-" she was cut off by a voice._

_"Blackbird! Blackbird! Blackbird!" The ground shook and Blackbird turned to look at her adoptive mother. She was gone. The earth began to rumble and threw her against a tree and everything went black._

She woke up with blue eyes looking down at her. "You were rolling around and kicking me," Marionette explained. "Bad dream?"

"Yeah," Blackbird answered. "Is it morning?"

The wanderer nodded. "I think Raven is in the fighter's den with Conin."

"Thank you," the queen dipped her head and padded out the den.

She was intercepted from her path by a cat she didn't know. "I'm Luna." Her voice was like a song, but as hard as rock. "Would you visit your kits? They were asking for you and the caretakers cannot take their whining much longer."

Blackbird purred. "Of course. Could you tell Raven that I will skip today's training?"

"Gladly," she replied.

She padded towards the nursery. "Lilac? Midnight? Crimson?" she called. She heard squeals and cries of "mother" from inside before being tackled. She gasped in surprise. They were much bigger than she remembered.

"You're here!" they squeaked.

"Yes, my little kits. I'm here."

"We're not little anymore," Lilac puffed out her chest with pride. Crimson nodded, but Blackbird could not argue. It was true. They were nearly as large as Coal now. The queen just licked the she-kit's head and looked at Midnight expecting a welcome, but she avoided her mother's gaze.

"What's wrong?" Blackbird asked softly.

"If we were still in Thunderclan, we would have been apprentices..." she whispered.

"I know."

"Good!" the kit snapped with an outburst of anger. When Blackbird stepped back with surprise she continued. "If it wasn't for you we would still be in the clans! There was no point in running away."

"How did you know?"

"We aren't little anymore, _mother_," she spat out the word 'mother' like rotten prey. "We can _think_!" She gazed at Blackbird bitterly.

Blackbird didn't answer, but shook her head helplessly. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry won't help us get back into Thunderclan," the kit snarled. "Too bad you are too scared to do anything about it. Just like you were too scared to help your clan."

Silence rang through the den as Midnight finished. Her two siblings exchanged uncomfortable glances and Blackbird just stared at her kit. The queen's gaze filled with determination as she saw sense in the kit's words. "Then I _will_ do something about it. I'll take you back to the clans."

"But what about Howl?" Crimson piped up.

"I'll take him too," she mewed without removing her gaze from Midnight.

"When?" Midnight challenged.

"Tomorrow night."

The she-kit nodded with a triumphant glint in her eyes. "Raven is looking for you, mother," she purred. This time 'mother' was spoken sweetly.

Blackbird glanced out the den and saw that the kit was right. Her brother was padding quickly towards the kit den.

"Blackbird," he called. "Grab some prey then the doyen will do some ceremonies."

Blackbird nodded and headed towards the prey heap. She chose a squirrel and took a bite. Another cat came and chose a mouse. "I'm Coco!" she yipped happily.

"Blackbird," she dipped her head.

Coco cocked her head. "Why the formalities? If anything I should be dipping my head to you! You're a wanderer."

"Trainee," Blackbird added. "I'm still a trainee."

"Not for long," Coco hinted. "The doyen is doing a ceremony. I'm guessing it's yours."

She didn't react, pondering over the concept. She hadn't considered that. "Maybe."

A call rang through the camp as the doyen spoke. "All cats, young and old, hear my call. Meet next to the Abyss for a ceremony."

"That's the call," Coco murmured finishing her mouse. "Let's go."

Blackbird finished her prey as well and padded next to Coco. As the Abyss filed into the small clearing the doyen and the three trainees padded to the front. The trainees' masters stood to the side. The doyen and the masters exchanged nods.

"Coal! Oblivion's harsh training has taught you much and we believe you are ready to become a fighter," the doyen announced. Coal stood up and padded next to the doyen. The doyen slashed the tip of Coal's right ear and waited for his blood to drip on his claws. The doyen moved his bloody paw until it was over the Abyss and waited until one drop of blood fell. Coal dipped his head and padded back into the line with his siblings. "Ribbon, despite starting training late, you have progressed just as well as your brothers. We think you are worthy to become a fighter beside them." He completed the blood dripping ritual with Ribbon and then approached Jagged. "Jagged, the only feeder among your siblings. Ink says that he can teach you no more as you already hunt better than he does."

"It's true!" Ink called out as purrs of amusement swept through the crowd.

"You, too, are worthy to become a full feeder." The doyen did the ritual except this time, the doyen slashed the left ear since Jagged was becoming a feeder. "Welcome these three cats as equals as they roam your ranks." There was no chanting or cheering, but the crowd stepped aside to form a passage way to the middle of them all.

"We have one more ceremony to perform. Since Torn has complained of too many kits in the kit den since Lilith had Oblivions kits. Their names are Spiral and Pepper for those of you who may not have heard. Anyway, I have decided to start Spirit's, Roar's, and Echo's training. At both Spirit's and Luna's requests, Spirit's master will be Luna. At Lilith's request, Coco shall have Roar. At Swoop's request, Whisper shall have Echo. Any complaints?" When no one answered he continued. "Don't leave. Since Howl has made friends with Roar and has asked to have training as well despite the fact that he was not recruited nor Abyss-born, I will allow him to begin." A cry of delight sounded as Howl leapt forward. "Your master will be Owl." As the crowd began to disperse the doyen cried. "Not finished! Not done! Not concluded! Blackbird please step forward." She obeyed. "Howl, push her into the Abyss."

"What?" the trainee gaped as Raven let out a cry of despair.

"You heard me, Howl," the doyen growled. "If you want to become a trainee you have to push her in."

"Why?" Blackbird asked, too stunned to move.

"I heard you talking to your little kitties," a voice cackled. It was Torn.

The queen attempted to run away, but Howl tackled her to the ground. "I _will_ be a trainee!" he snarled and pushed her in. The last thing she saw was Howl's green eyes. _'They look so much like Pearl's!' _ she thought before she plummeted

D

O

W

N

.

.

.

* * *

**_Author's Note_: **Soooo? What do you think? Will she live? Will she die? Will she turn into Rainbow Dash and fly? Please review! No reviews in the last chapter... :(


	16. Chapter 15: Sad Reacquaintance

**_Chapter 15: Sad Reacquaintance_**

Blackbird saw one last glimpse of life before she fell into the pure darkness. She closed her eyes waiting for death, but it never came... At least not yet. She fell and fell and fell, but never reached the bottom. Then she heard a _slap!_ and her body seared with pain. Then everything went black (as if things weren't black before).

She woke up to two pairs of eyes gazing down at her, one pair blue and the other green. "Who?" she groaned.

"Shiningkit!" one squeaked.

"Sweetkit!" the other added.

"You guys lived?" she gasped. Then the pain caught up with her and she cringed.

"A nice cat saved us!" Sweetkit purred.

"Really?" Blackbird was barely able to speak to the word was distorted by moaning._  
_

"Yeah," Shiningkit answered enthusiastically. "He's coming!"

She grunted and raised saw green eyes shining towards her. "Hello?"

"You're here," the unknown tom mewed happily. "You made it!"

"Made it?" The black queen couldn't stop her ears from poking up painfully.

"Yeah, you lived," the tom's outline cocked his head. The other three she-cats couldn't see him yet because it was so dark.

"Come here!" Sweetkit bounced.

"Yes, come!" Shiningkit called eagerly.

The tom nodded and revealed himself. Blackbird gaped, "Ember?"

Ember smiled and flicked his ear. "Pearl and I found a path down. It took a few days to reach the bottom, but we made it."

"_We?_" She smiled. "Pearl is here, too?"

"Mhm," he grunted. "She's carrying the prey here."

Shiningkit and Sweetkit leapt onto Ember and he growled playfully.

Blackbird turned her body to look at the kits and Ember, but she was still filled with pain so closed her eyes hoping to dull the it. She listened to the growling behind her and the playful- wait, _ behind_ her? She snapped open her eyes and lifted up her head to glance back and saw shiny brown eyes.

"Fox!" she yowled.

The three cats stopped playing and whipped around to face the fox. "You're back again," Shiningkit snarled.

"You nearly killed us," Sweetkit added.

"We may have let you live before, but this time we'll kill you," Ember added.

"This is the fox that fell with us," Sweetkit informed Blackbird who grunted as an answer.

The black queen dragged her self towards the battle, but Shiningkit ordered, "Stay back, Blackbird!"

She collapsed and laid there silently listening to the growls and yowls as the battle started. Somewhere in the chaos the fox scratched her and she leapt up only for her knees to buckle and fall down again. He head hit a rock and she fainted.

She felt a splash of water and she spluttered. "What?"

Pearl was there holding moss over her head. "You awake?" she mumble through the moss.

Blackbird nodded drowsily and sniffed. "How long?"

"Were you asleep?" When the she-cat nodded, Pearl answered. "Two days."

"Ugh..." Blackbird sat up and when she did she was surprised that it didn't pain her too much anymore. There was only light pain and a mild headache. "I... I healed!"

"Of course you did," Pearl purred. "I dressed your wounds once in a while. You better have healed."

"No, not these," Blackbird licked her scratches from the fox. "My internal wounds from hitting the water."

Pearl nodded. "I knew what you meant. I'm going hunting with Sweetkit, you want to come with?"

Blackbird nodded and then blurted. "Howl's alive!"

"Excuse me?" she gasped with joy. "He's alive?"

"Yes," Blackbird muttered - to the white queen's surprise- sounding hostile.

"What's wrong?" Pearl asked worriedly. "Is he injured?"

"I wish," the black cat spat. "He pushed me in! He was _soooo_ desperate to please the Abyss he pushed me in."

"No," she meowed firmly. "He wouldn't do that. Not Howl."

"He did, and you better believe it."

"_No_!" Pearl repeated. "No, no, _no_! He did _not_! I don't believe it. I will not believe it!"

Blackbird growled. "Fine then," she snarled. "He almost killed me, maybe you should finish the job."

Pearl only hissed in reply and turned away. Blackbird narrowed her eyes and padded to Ember.

"Hello Blackbird!" the tom greeted. "I see you're up. Need something to eat?"

The queen ignored the question and asked her own. "Where's the path?"

"The path?"

"The path to the top," she explained.

Ember mouthed 'oh' and flicked his tail. "This way," he announced as he raced away. Blackbird followed grimly. "Here we are," he meowed after a minute's journey.

She looked up without expression. "I'm going."

Ember blinked. "What? Why?"

"I need to go up," she answered determinedly. "I promised my kits I would take them back to the clans and I will."

"Uh..." he muttered. "Ok?"

Shiningkit pounced out of nowhere. "I want to go too!"

"No, Rosekit," Ember commanded. "You stay here, it's too dangerous. Pearl and I almost didn't make it."

Rosekit pouted, but Sweetkit's voice mewed. "I think you should let her go," the kit squeaked. "I'll stay, but let her go. She definitely wants to." Ember and Blackbird looked over to the kit who agreed hastily. Sweetkit padded out from the shadows to confront the two older cats.

"Please?" Shiningkit begged.

Ember let out a long sigh, but nodded. "Fine, but remember. Four days' journey. There is not much prey so when you scent any, go for it. Got it?"

Blackbird nodded and turned to look at Shiningkit, but the kit wasn't there. "Shiningkit?'

"Here!" Blackbird turned to see Shiningkit dragging a squirrel from the woods. "For the journey," she explained.

Blackbird nodded. "Good thinking," she praised and Shiningkit beamed. "I'll carry it, it's too heavy for you to lug it all the way."

Shiningkit agreed after a moment and passed the squirrel to Blackbird who held it easily. "Let's go."

Shiningkit led the way up the path and turned when Ember called after them. "In a bit the path will widen to about three fox-lenghts long and after a day you will reach a clearing where there is prey. Ok?"

Blackbird nodded and kept walking. Shiningkit, ahead of her, called, "Hurry up!"

Blackbird quickened her pace and caught up to Shiningkit. "Are you ready?"

"For what?"

"For an adventure, of course."

"Yeah, I guess. Can you tell me a story to pass the time?"

Blackbird let Shiningkit take the squirrel. "Ok, I'll tell you my story starting from when I left the clans. I padded out of camp with my three kits following, Lilackit, Crimsonkit, and Midnightkit..."

They walked, but they didn't see the huge yellow eyes watching them from behind.

* * *

**_Author's Note_: **Well, this one was another filler... Not very exciting, huh. Oh, well. Next chapter will probably be another filler too. Sorry I took so long to update :P heh heh.

Tell me what you think... Who's eyes were they (hint: Not Pearl's, Ember's, or Sweetkit's)? Did Blackbird make the right choice to leave? Will Shiningkit live (heh, heh... feeling evil)?


	17. Chapter 16: From A Raven's Eyes

_**Chapter 16: From A Raven's Eyes**_

Raven gasped as he heard the doyen's words. _Push her into the Abyss..._ The words echoed in his head, ripping his heart out. "No!" he screeched and fought his way towards her, but the crowd of cats blocked his way._  
_

"I will be a trainee!" Howl hissed as Blackbird fell into darkness. Raven felt as if he was the one falling to his death, then he realized he _was_ falling. His head hit the ground and he thought _'What a way for a wanderer to die. I can imagine it now; Brave wanderer defeated by dirt!'_ before he passed out.

He awoke with four different cats looking down at him. The herbal master and her trainee were there obviously, but the other two? He squinted his eyes hoping that his vision would clear. "He's awake!" he heard Soot, the herbal trainee, squeal. He heard the patter of paws as one of the cats, Ebony, he guessed, applied a pulp to his wound.

"Raven?" a familiar voice asked.

"Conin?" he retorted in the same worried voice.

"Same as always I see," she snorted with contempt, but couldn't hide a purr.

"What, you think just 'cause I fall down I'll be," he paused to gasp in mock horror. "_Nice?_"

Conin, being her stubborn self, hissed. "No!"

Another cat purred with relieved amusement. "I'm here too, you know..."

"Of course you are, Coal!" Raven snapped.

The trainee huffed with annoyance and mumbled something about "not being important" or "wanting to be a rabbit" and stomped out of the den. Hopefully it was the former. The four remaining cats purred with amusement.

"When can I go?" Raven asked abruptly.

The two herbal scholars exchanged nervous glances before Soot answered. "Uh, not anytime soon. Your head's messed up pretty bad. It's _ug-ly_!" His words earned him a cuff over the head by Ebony.

"Thanks for the sympathy," Raven hissed dryly and Conin mrrowed with amusement. "But, no. I'm going now."

His tone showed that there was no changing his mind, but of course, Ebony tried anyways. "You'll get even worse," she warned.

"Of course it will," he replied nonchalantly.

Ebony glanced at Soot and shrugged. "Your injuries' on you, though."

Raven held back a sharp retort and padded out followed by Conin. "Wait up!" she called. "I need-"

"How long was I out?" he interrupted her.

She frowned, but answered anyways. "A day."

"A _day_?" he widened his eyes with surprise.

"Yeah, but I need to tell you-" she tried again.

"I can't believe it!" he hissed. "A whole day!"

"Raven, I-" she was cut off again by his ranting.

"What kind of wanderer am I? Getting knocked out by just standing there! I mean-"

"_Raven_!" she snarled, neck fur bristling. "I_ need_ to tell you something!"

Raven, temporarily shocked into submission, nodded meekly. "What is it, Conin?"

"I'm going to have kits, you daft tom," she hissed exasperatedly.

"Kits?" he purred. "That's wonderful."

Her fur laid flat and she licked his head and he knew he was forgiven. "I'll move to the carrier's den in a moon."

"A _moon_?" Raven's voice raised again. "That's so-"

"No!" his mate roared. "I said a moon and it will be so!"

Raven winced and back away. "Sorry, sorry," he mewed hastily.

Conin exhaled through her nose angrily and padded away.

"Wait! Conin!" he called. "_I _have to tell you something as well."

Conin stopped and turned. "What," she muttered flatly.

"Blackbird is my sister," he admitted.

"Yeah? So?" she meowed calmly. Raven was surprised by her lack of feeling and it must have shown on his face because Conin purred. "I suspected for a time, actually. You spent a lot of time with her... At first I thought I had some- well- competition, but I knew that wasn't true when you told me what you wanted to name the kits. The only other answer was that she was your sister."

"Oh," he mewed dumbly.

Raven watched as Conin snorted with contempt and went to Drake, the second in command, to see if there were any patrols. He sighed and then remembered that he had to check the Abyss for Blackbird. He raced to the Abyss and looked in. "I think I'll scout around it to see if there's a way down," he mused. He flicked his ears and followed the edge of the Abyss looking for a path.

He slunk through the bushes scanning the edge of the Abyss. Time passed with nothing eventful and he was about to give up. His eyes narrowed, not wanting to admit defeat but he couldn't fight the inevitable.

The black tom sighed and turned around when a tuft of white fur caught his eyes. He padded quickly up to it and took a deep sniff. It was the cat that came to join the Abyss with Blackbird! What was her name again? Gem? Orb? Pearl? Yes, Pearl! That was her name. He looked around and saw another bundle of fur snagged in some brambles. He padded up to it and saw another bunch but this one wasn't white. It was a flamelike ginger color. He took another sniff. Definitely several days old. It had a strong scent of Pearl, but this one was a tom. The two were definitely together.

He spotted another tuft, and another. There was a trail leading forward at a diagonal that would eventually hit the Abyss. He followed the fur, careful not to add to the trail by losing half of his own pelt. Raven opened his mouth to get a better scent as the trail abruptly ended and caught the familiar rocky scent of the Abyss. He followed it to the hole where there was a rocky ledge leading about a fifth of the way towards the center of the Abyss.

The tom carefully tested the ledge, prodding it with one paw before stepping on. He closed his eyes expecting for the ground beneath him to give way. After several moments he let out his breath feeling relieved. Feeling braver he took another step towards the end of the ledge and saw another ledge slightly below the one he was standing on, sort of like... stairs.

_Stairs!_ This was the path he was looking for. He debated to himself whether or not he should go down, but decided to wait a night before going. He padded back into the forest scenting for prey. He quickly caught a squirrel without much effort and settled down to take a bite.

He curled up to go to sleep as he finished off the squirrel.

_He opened his eyes and saw two huge yellow eyes and he immediately bowed his head. "The Abyssinian," he mewed._

_"Indeed," a voice echoed so softly he had to strain his ears to hear. A cat glided out of the shadows. "There are cats living down here. Two of which are coming up the path you sleep beside."_

_"Is one of them black?" he asked eagerly. "Is she Blackbird?"_

_"Of course one of them is black!" the voice grew loud into a snarl, but the cat's lips nor body moved, and Raven shrank back. "If neither of them was, I would have killed them on the spot."_

_"Two cats?" Raven narrowed his eyes. "Where did the other cat come from? Are there more?"_

_"Yes, there were five cats before the two left. Sadly, none of the original four were black, but I knew they would save one cat with the pelt of night so I let them live."_

_"The pelt of night?" Raven echoed._

_"Yes," the cat answered. "They will come to you. Stay put."_

_"Raven?" another shocked voice cried._

_He turned around to see Blackbird. "Is it... Is it really you?"_

_"Of course its me, mouse-brain," she yipped happily. "Are you ok? Why did you crash my dream? I was about to catch the mouse!"_

_"Uh..." The tom turned back to the other cat, but it was gone. "Where are you?"_

_"I'm on the way up to the top!" she mewed happily. "And Rosekit is with me."_

_"Rosekit?" he murmured._

_"Yeah!" Blackbird giggled happily. "The cat I pushed in!"_

_"Pushed?" he narrowed his eyes._

_Blackbird nodded oblivious to the tom's suspicion. "To join the Abyss, silly! I needed to sacrifice her and her sister to get in." The black queen let out another giggle. "Stupid," she teased._

_Raven stiffened. "You. Aren't. Blackbird," he stated slowly. "Blackbird can't be as cheerful as you are after all she's been through. Blackbird doesn't have dreams of hunting senile mice. I _know _for a fact that she did not push Rosekit and Sweetkit in. A fox did."_

_The she-cat's eyes darkened for a second, but went back to its happy-go-lucky state so quickly he could have imagined it. "Of course I am!" she pouted. "I'm Blackbird! See? I smell like her and I look like her so I must be her!"_

_"No you aren't," he growled and swiped his right paw at the she-cat but he passed right through her. His vision blurred for a second and he sat down dizzily. He ignored it and leapt to his paws to confront her, but she was gone. In her place was the shadowy, emotionless cat from before._

_The cat's size seemed to double and its huge eyes turned a glowing red before leaping on Raven._

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**:** Ha! Tricked you! This one wasn't a filler :P Decided to do a Raven chappie... My first non-Blackbird chapter! How'd you like it? It's also pretty long... About 1,700 words XD, I just couldn't find a place to leave it off. Heh heh. Sorry for the delay. I have no excuse this time. :3 Well same as usual... R&R!

Oh, yeah! By the way, don't ask me what's coming next :3 Like I told Howlsong13, the charries kinda make themselves up along the way :P.

Ok, random fact time! Yay! Conin is an ingredient in poison hemlock that makes it poisonous so yes, she was named after it. The pronunciation is different: The one in poison hemlock is pronounced koh-nee-een while the cat is simply pronounced co-nin. Just like that :D

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE VOTE ON MY POLL! It's on my profile!** Thanks :)


	18. Chapter 17: Abyssinian

**Chapter 17: Abyssinian**

Blackbird padded in a tight circle and settle down with a sigh. Her belly was satisfyingly full after settling at one of the 'prey spots' Ember had mentioned. She grumbled as Rosekit curled up against her, but relaxed when Shiningkit licked her flank. "Good night, Shiningkit," she murmured.

"Good night!" the kit chirped.

_Blackbird scented the air and nearly jumped with surprise when she caught a scent of Raven. She carefully followed the trail, ignoring the tantalizing scents of mice and squirrels. She narrowed her eyes as she spotted a shadow cat facing her brother._

_"__"You. Aren't. Blackbird," Raven growled loudly. "Blackbird can't be as cheerful as you are after all she's been through. Blackbird doesn't have dreams of hunting senile mice. I _know _for a fact that she did not push Rosekit and Sweetkit in. A fox did." Blackbird cocked her head. Raven thought that_ thing _looked like her?_

_The shadow cat meowed something, but Blackbird couldn't hear. She caught snippets like "Blackbird" or "Smells like" and "Her". 'Are they talking about me?' she thought. 'They said my name, they must be.'_

_She gasped as the shadow cat began vibrating- yes, vibrating, not shaking- and seemed to grow in size. Blackbird ran faster than she had ever run and plowed into the shadow cat as it leapt at Raven. Good news, the cat faltered and ended up hitting Raven with much less momentum. Bad news, Blackbird flew right through the cat and hit her head on a tree._

_She saw Raven swiping at the cat with no avail. "No..." she groaned._

_At the sound of her voice, the tom only seemed to fight more aggressively. Unfortunately, the shadow cat could turn solid to strike Raven then back to its untouchable state when Raven attacked. Raven, realizing this moved backwards several steps and began to circle the shadow cat. The cat glided towards Blackbird and with one claw touched her nose._

_Blackbird suddenly felt like she was flying, then realized that she was looking at herself. Her body was slowly fading away, starting at her nose where the cat had touched her. Raven stood still watching in shock until her tail tip disappeared. "What did you do to her?" he roared._

_"Nothing," the cat's voice echoed. "She is here now."_

_Blackbird floated closer to the pair and waved a paw in front of Raven't eyes, but he didn't seem to see her. "Where?" the tom looked around desperately._

_"You can not see her, but she is fine," the cat answered in the same wispy voice._

_"How do I know?" he growled. "How do I know I can trust you?"_

_"Because I never lie. I am the Abyssinian."_

_Raven widened his eyes and dipped his head. "I'm sorry," he cried. "I did not know."_

_"You do now," the cat replied._

_"But you lied about being Blackbird!" Raven muttered sounding utterly confused. "And you lied about having her traits and about how Blackbird pushed the kits in."_

_"In a way, I didn't." When Raven still looked lost, the cat continued. "I took some of her essence into me when I took her form, therefore _being _Blackbird, or at least a part of her. I did have her traits, you scented me, you saw me, and I was definitely her as I just explained."_

_Raven waited for it to continue, but when it didn't he meowed, "You still didn't explain about how you could lie about pushing Blackbird's kits in."_

_"If you did not know and you say what you believed to have happened, you are telling the truth," the cat explained. "I did not see who pushed the kits in, only that they ended up in my home."_

_"How did you not notice the fox that fell in with them?" Raven questioned._

_"I am the god of cats so only cats can see me and cats are the only living creatures I can see."_

_"I understand," Raven mewed, eyes lit with curiosity. "Do you have something to say to me?"_

_"I do," the shadow cat echoed. "A time ago I gave a prophecy to the prophets for the doyen. What it said is of no interest to you. The prophecy was a fake. I gave it to them to give hope to the Abyss when the current Doyen was appointed. His time will come soon as to when he will die and I have chosen you as his successor."_

_"But that goes against tradition!" Raven complained._

_"The Doyen will die alone, away from anyone who can help him. But if you must know, his name is Blackbird." Blackbird widened her eyes with surprise._

_"What?"_

_"He changed his doyen name because of the fake prophecy," the cat explained. "It may or may not have said something about the bird of night ruling. Of course, 'Raven is already taken, and Crow just doesn't have that ring.' His words exactly when he was discussing with the prophets by the way. So he decided to be Blackbird."_

_"Did you look into the future and saw that Blackbird was coming?"_

_"No, it was just an unlucky coincidence. Awaken now. Both of you." The cat reached up with one claw and touched Blackbird's nose just as he had before and everything went black._

Blackbird woke up to see a mouse laying next to her. "I caught it for you," Shiningkit squealed. "I hope you like it."

The she-cat nodded with approval and smiled. "Well done, Shiningkit," she praised.

The kit beamed. "When you're done, we should get moving again. Your kits sound pretty impatient," she purred.

Blackbird rolled her eyes and bit off the last piece of meat, "Let's go."

Shiningkit skipped up the trail followed by Blackbird. "The next prey spot shouldn't be too far. Ember said they were a day's travel apart. There should be three more prey spots along the way," the she-kit squeaked with a matter-of-fact tone.

"That's good to know," Blackbird muttered, eyes distant.

"What's wrong?" the kit asked.

"I miss Raven," she answered after a pause. It was half true at least.

"Yeah, I kind of miss Sweetkit already too," the kit murmured softly.

Blackbird didn't answer and continued walking. She flicked her tail at a hole in the ground to warn Shiningkit.

"Blackbird?" Shiningkit squeaked.

"Yes?" the queen asked.

"Do you smell that?" A hint of fear crept into her voice.

Blackbird took a sniff and winced at the foreign scent. "Who are they?" she asked with a small voice. There was another group of cats down here? As if their luck could get any worse...

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**:** I'm sorry! D: I feel like I neglected this story by working on my new one... It started out as a one-shot challenge for Nightclan, but now its a story. :) Read if you want. The link is in my profile :). It's pretty good and I actually got better reactions than I did on this story XD. I just realized that I have been calling Shiningkit Rosekit for the past few chapters. I went back and changed it, but if you guys catch me doing it again, please tell me! Please vote on my poll on my profile :) Thank you to the two who already did :3

Question time! I saw another author doing this so I was like, why not? How this works is, I'll put a question, a hint, and the amount of guesses you get, you put your guess in a review and if you get it correct, you get a prize!

Question: Who is my least favorite thunderclan she-cat?

Hint: Was a queen.

Number of guesses: Two.

Coco out!~


	19. Chapter 18: Announcements

**Chapter 18: Announcements**

Barkstar sighed. Things were not going well in Thunderclan. Crystalgaze had recovered fully along with Timberblaze, but Maplepaw had lost her eye when it was infected. **(AN: These injuries were dealt in chapter... 3 I think... I don't remember xD Sorry.)** Runningwater, her mentor, was devastated even though she was allowed to continue training.

Several days had passed after Fallingwing's death and many cats were still slightly shaken, especially the younger ones. To the apprentices and younger warriors, it had seemed as if Fallingwing had lived forever. Rockpelt on the other paw put up a strong face and acted as if he preferred her gone. Barkstar, himself had spotted the remaining elder weeping when he thought no one was watching.

Barkstar stood up and shook the dust out of his pelt tiredly and padded out of his den. He leapt onto high-rock and called out the announcement. "All cats old enough to hunt their own prey, gather around for the news I have to tell you."

Slowly the cats flooded into the clearing and gazed up at him with tired, wary eyes. "I know that we have had many injuries lately," he started. His gaze went over Sandfur who had a torn claw, Wolfwind had lost an ear, Rosepool had gotten a serious cut across her face, and the newly named Lightningstrike was attacked during his vigil, but alerted the clan and escaped with almost no casualties. "We will survive as Thunderclan always has. When Thunderclan was attacked by the dark forest, we did not falter. We fought and we won. We _will_ win this time. We have only lost Redspring, but all of our able-bodied cats can fight and will protect out clan."

Murmures swept through the crowd and Timberblaze called out, "We had the other clans to help us defeat the Dark Forest! Along with Starclan and the ancients."

"That is true," Barkstar admitted. "But who says we can not have the other clans along side us in this battle? Perhaps they have been attacked and are willing to join forces once again." Timberblaze nodded contently and turned to continue discussing the situation with Rushpelt. Barkstar looked around to see if anyone had questions before speaking, "The gathering is tonight as well so I will propose this to the other leaders. Swiftshadow?" Barkstar beckoned with his tail for the deputy to speak.

"The cats going to the gathering tonight will be Wolfwind, Rushpelt, Dovesplash, Cloverpaw, Lightningstrike, Rockpelt, and Timberblaze," Swiftshadow announced. "With Barkstar, Meadowleaf, and I of course. Lionclaw, lead a quick hunting patrol with Timberblaze ,Dovesplash, and Cloverpaw, please. We will leave once you come back."

The golden warrior padded out of camp followed by the named cats. The crowd of cats dispersed into their private groups to gossip and share tongues. Swiftshadow sighed and looked around camp. He spotted Barkstar who motioned to follow him into the leader's den.

Once the two were in the den Barkstar spoke, "I'm going to need you to share what evidence we had for the loner attacks. Starting from the first sighting by Blackbird. Speaking of Blackbird we still haven't told them... well, you know."

"I'll just say she was attacked and couldn't make it," Swiftshadow suggested. Barkstar hesitantly nodded. He obviously didn't like lying to the other clans, but he saw no other option.

The deputy's ears pricked as he heard an uncomfortable cough. "It's me," came Dovesplash's voice. "The patrol is back. It's time to leave."

"We're coming," Barkstar replied and padded out. He looked at the sky which was now noticeably darker. He flicked out his tail and let out a yowl. The chosen cats matched his pace until they reached the gathering spot.

"Thunderclan is here!" the Shadowclan leader, Dawnstar, announced. "Let the gathering begin!"

"May I start?" Barkstar asked. The leaders didn't complain so he nodded and began speaking. "We have had no new kits nor apprentices, but we do have a new warrior, Lightningstrike!" He paused to let the cats cheer the warrior's name before continuing. "We also have more grim news, unfortunately. Some of you may have noticed that some of our warriors are injured. We have been having constant attacks from loners. Swiftshadow has some more information to share with you."

The deputy nodded and began his speech. "It all began when Blackbird spotted a loner slinking around our territory. It all went downhill from there when more cats were spotted and some of our clanmates were attacked. We eventually even lost one of our cats, Redspring, to an especially fatal blow. More and more cats were injured, including Blackbird, but we managed to survive and we are still healthy and strong if I do say so myself." Swiftshadow dipped his head to show that he was finished and everyone turned their attention back to Barkstar.

"We will not tolerate any intruders and the loners that have attacked have been injured brutally. Any of your clanmembers who might take advantage of our... damaged state will be given the same treatment," Barkstar mewed with a steely voice.

"We wouldn't dream of attacking you," Buzzardstar, the Windclan leader, purred silkily. "We have had the same attacks from loners, but we have not lost any warriors yet. We do have a new apprentice, but he was attacked and could not make it today. Crownose," he paused to look down at the empty spot of his deputy. "was attacked as well."

Dawnstar stepped forward to speak next. "We have had constant attacks as well." She nodded to the other leaders. "Other than that, we have no news besides the fact that our prey is running well."

Tawnystar, the remaining leader, sniffed arrogantly before starting. "We have had no attacks from loners!" The cats from the other three clans exchanged incredulous looks. "Our river has blocked off the easiest path to our territory and I expect that that is why the loners have not attacked."

Barkstar pondered the concept for a second before agreeing. "It makes sense," he called. "However, I do propose that if the time arises, we shall join together to fight this growing danger." He looked at the other three leaders with curiosity.

Buzzardstar and Dawnstar exchanged a quick look before nodding. "We agree to this 'deal' as you would call it," Dawnstar meowed. They looked at Tawnystar.

"Fine," she spat. "The loners might come to us eventually anyways."

There was a momentary silence before Buzzardstar began, "If no one has any news to share than the gathering-"

"Stop!" a cat wheezed. "My name is Torn and I have some news about your enemies that you might want to know!"

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**:** A view into the clans. :) So is Torn betraying the Abyss or does she have a reason? This will be revealed in the next chapter. :) Please please please please vote on my poll! It's on my profile :3

Random Fact time! Since this story is many many many many many years later than Firestar's time, the river that split Riverclan's territory in half widened and became faster. The stepping stones are still in use, but they are smoother than they were before.

Aw... :( Only The Song of the Felines guessed. Same question:

Question: Who is my least favorite thunderclan she-cat?

Hint: Was a queen. (Not Millie)

Number of guesses: Two.

Prize: OC :)

Coco out! ~


	20. Chapter 19: The League Of Love Conundrum

**Chapter 19: The League Of Love Conundrums**

Blackbird heard voices as she and Shiningkit snuck forward.

"Leave him alone! He's mine!" one cat snarled.

"He obviously loves me," another sniffed.

"He has _my_ kits," the first shot back. "Not yours."

"Can we please just hunt?" a third cat sighed. "Rage will like the one who brings back more prey."

By now, the three she-cats were in view. Two snowy she-cats and a more reddish one. One of the snowy cat's eyes glinted with anger and showed a longing, a hunger, for something which was most definitely not food. The reddish one flashed a confident smile and padded off in one direction.

"Why, Iris, why?" the angry white she-cat whined.

The other white cat, Iris, shrugged. "Better go off hunting!" Iris sat still and watched as the she-cat darted away with her mouth open scenting the air. "No toms?" Iris called into nowhere.

Blackbird shifted uncomfortably. Did she know they were there?

As if the cat could read thoughts, Iris sighed. "I know you're there, just come out."

Blackbird whispered, "Shiningkit, stay behind me." She emerged from the hiding place with a cowering Shiningkit and lifted her head boldly. "My name is Blackbird and this is Shiningkit."

Iris' eyes narrowed. "Clan names..." she muttered thoughtfully and Blackbird's eyes betrayed her shock. "Oh," Iris chuckled bitterly. "I know about the clans. Not much, actually. Just that they chased off my whole league."

"League?" Shiningkit whimpered. "There's more than you three?"

Iris nodded slowly. "The two she-cats you saw before, Cloud and Vixen, were fighting over Rage, a _very_ temperamental dark brown tom."

"Please tell me that's all of them," the kit begged.

"A few more," the rogue mewed. "Crow, a black tom who is foolishly padding after me, Roar, a fiery ginger tom, Jackal, another queen whose fur color is kind of like Rage's, and our leader, Soul. He's a silver tom and... my father."

"Then you must be very important in this... league," Blackbird meowed slowly.

"No!" Iris snapped. "Not until I get a _mate_! But I don't want a mate! Stupid Soul. I can't believe he wants me to take up Crow! Or even Rage! He has enough she-cats fighting over him. You know what? Just come with me. See for yourself."

"But the cats that were with you," Shiningkit protested. "When they come back, they'll be all alone. _Together_."

"Oh, well. They'll have to deal with it themselves. Unless you would like to stay with them," Iris purred humorlessly.

"No, thank you," the kit replied meekly.

Iris only flicked her tail and beckoned for the pair to follow her. She led them through the semi-underground mini forest and paused as a ginger tom came into view.

"Halt," the tom rumbled.

"Roar," Iris meowed uncertainly. "These are visitors." The tom hesitantly nodded and stood aside. "This is camp," she explained.

Blackbird looked around to see several roughly dug dens and leaves holding several herbs in them. "How long have you been here?"

"One day," she answered promptly. "I think I forgot to mention that we are travelers. Nomads, if you will."

Shiningkit glanced at Blackbird before speaking. "Ember and Pearl didn't see you guys on the way down. Where were you before?"

"Here and there," Iris got a distant look in her eyes. "It's hard to keep track. The ones we do remember had some important memories."

Blackbird shot Shiningkit a look not to pry and the kit nodded. The rogue snapped back to reality when they heard a growl.

"Iris! Who are these?" the silver tom crankily asked.

"Travelers, like us," Iris informed her father. Soul looked at his daughter expectantly. "Sir," she added meekly.

Soul nodded and looked around. "Rage, bring them to the visitor's den."

A blackish brown tom glared at the she-cats and thrust his head towards an even messier built den. "Its tiny!" Shiningkit complained. "Even I won't fit in that."

"Deal with it," the tom spat. "Its what you've got."

Iris offered them a mouse, but didn't look at Rage. Blackbird took the prey gratefully and split the mouse into two pieces with her claw. She gave the slightly bigger one to Shiningkit who accepted it. They ate slowly, uncomfortable underneath Rage's rock hard gaze.

Cloud and Vixen stumbled into the camp fighting over who would give the deer they caught to Rage.

"I made the kill!" Vixen protested.

"But he's-" Cloud spotted Rage and kept quiet. To Vixen's surprise, she snatched the deer and dragged it to Rage. "I caught you a deer," she boasted.

Rage nodded and blinked at Cloud indifferently. "Ok," he grunted. "Where's Vixen?"

Cloud held back a hiss as Vixen shot her a triumphant glance. "Over there, love," she purred flicking her tail towards the reddish she-cat. Cloud reached out her tail and touched Rage's shoulder.

"I... don't want to intrude," Vixen meowed innocently and walked away into the forest. Blackbird kept her eyes where the she-cat had disappeared and it was obvious she had circled back when her amber eyes glinted from the shadows.

"Why do you want her?" Cloud asked with a pained voice.

"Maybe she might be able to give me toms, not she-cats," the tom answered. He glanced disdainfully at the poorly made nursery.

"I can give you more," his mate cried. "Give me another chance!"

Rage just padded away in the direction Vixen had left. Shiningkit took a step forward. "It's ok," the kit comforted with wisdom beyond her moons **(AN: See what I did there? :D)**. "He doesn't mean it."

"How would you know?" Cloud snapped. Her eyes were wild and proposed a chance of Shiningkit being hurt. "You're just a puny, weak kit! How would you know anything about love? You shouldn't even qualify as a clan cat."

"I may be still a kit, I may not love, but I am more of a clan cat than you'll ever be," Shiningkit mewed coldly. Cloud had obviously hit a sore spot for the kit to lose her kind demeanor.

Cloud opened her mouth to fire another rant of retorts, but Blackbird cut in. "She's right you know," the black queen murmured. "How close are you to attacking Vixen? You already have, haven't you?"

"I did. She was trying to steal Rage from me," Cloud defended herself.

"Why do you like Rage anyway? Its not as if he even cares about you," Shiningkit asked.

"That's not true! He rescued-"

"Then why is he leaving you for Vixen?" Blackbird interrupted her.

"Because I failed him!" The white she-cat's fire had wore down and was replaced by a wary look on her face. "I should have tried harder. I had a tom-kit, but he was too weak and died after two days. It's been five days since then and Rage doesn't even care!"

"Rage didn't even try to help him, did he?" Shiningkit's eyes darkened.

"Oh, Flash... My little kit," Cloud whimpered. "I should have tried to stop him."

"To stop who?" Blackbird questioned curiously.

"Rage!" she admitted. "He trained Flash too hard and killed him."

"He trained a two day old kit?" Shiningkit gasped. "How?"

"He made me stand on the other side of the clearing and forced Flash to work to get his food," Cloud cried. "His eyes weren't even opened yet. By the end of the day, Flash was as good as dead. He was too tired, too worn out. He didn't even get to me... I was blinded by my love, but Jackal wasn't... She tried so hard but you know how strong Rage is."

_"What_ happened after that?" Blackbird gently meowed.

"The league had to move on," the queen murmured. "We left him behind. He wasn't even dead yet!"

"Then he may still be alive!" Shiningkit squealed.

"Do you think so?" she sniffed.

"What color was he?" Blackbird inquired.

"He was a shade darker than Rage," Cloud whispered.

"Why'd you name him Flash?" Shiningkit frowned. "Aren't flashes supposed to be bright?"

"I just wanted him to remember he wan't only born of darkness, but of light as well," she admitted. "I guess I knew Rage wasn't good when the kits were newborn as well..."

"Could he have passed as black?" Blackbird's eyes widened at the possibility.

"Yes!" she purred at the memory. "He was the merging of brown and black. So dark it could almost not have been brown, but at the same time too light to be an actual black."

"Shiningkit is right!" Blackbird announced. "He may still live!"

* * *

_**Author's**_ **_Note_: **This was another one of those chapters where I didn't know where to cut off. xD It went about 1,500 words without the AN. Anyway... Congratulations to The Song Of The Felines who guessed the she-cat I hated most... FERNCLOUD! Ugh, I hate her. All she ever does is sit in the nursery and get fat with kits. -.- Once again, Review and vote on the poll in my profile :D Thanks to you all :3

Yessss! 30 reviews! Woot woot! Thanks you guys, love ya! Less than 3! (I would put a heart instead of the "less than three" but fan fiction doesn't let me use the less than.)

Random Fact time! :) The Song Of The Felines made up Rage, Cloud, Iris, Soul, Jackal, and Vixen. I love their personalities so much. I should do a chapter from their POV. Yeah?

Coco out! ~


End file.
